Culture wars, the environment, British foreign policy and social justice: these are just a few of the topics that Jack spectacularly fails to address (or even mention for that matter) in his brand-new show Small World.
Instead, for reasons known only to him, he doubles down on his fascination with the meaningless small things of life, like Zoom protocol, what’s new in the world of radiators, and the worst careers advice office in the world.
Join Jack as he guides you through his varied life and career with his customary charm and well-known gift for talking absolute rubbish on any given subject.
Born in Kent and raised in the Greater London suburb of Petts Wood, Jack Dee wasn’t the best of students. Although he wanted to attend drama school, his mum told him to get a vocation so he became a waiter at The Ritz – and hated every moment of it.
After work one night in 1986, Dee made his debut stand-up appearance at an open mic event at The Comedy Store. He quickly became a favourite there and started to hone the deadpan observational humour that would become his signature.
Dee won a British Comedy Award in 1991 for Best Stage Newcomer, and doors soon opened for TV work. He brought his stand-up persona to The Jack Dee Show, which aired from 1992 – 1994. He then went on to helm several other television programmes including Jack Dee’s Saturday Night in 1995, Jack Dee’s Happy Hour from 2000 – 2001 and Jack Dee Live At The Apollo in 2004.
Dee often joked that he “probably appeared in every TV show with my name in the title”.
Over the years, he also starred in several TV sitcoms. Dee played world-weary comedian Rick Spleen in Lead Balloon, uncool landlord Geoff in Josh, and Steve, a man who’d left the city to live in a farmhouse with his wife and couldn’t adjust, in Bad Move. He even won the first ever Celebrity Big Brother.
Dee became the host of the award-winning Radio 4 comedy panel game I’m Sorry I Haven’t A Clue in 2009, and he also published the bestselling autobiography Thanks For Nothing that explains how he became such a grumpy, miserable git.
After having taken a six-year break from stand-up, Dee returned in a big way – with an 18-month sell-out tour between 2012 and 2013. Those shows resulted in the comedy DVD So What? Live.
In 2015, Dee began hosting the popular shows The Apprentice: You’re Fired and The Apprentice: You’re Hired. He also launched Jack Dee’s HelpDesk, which toured live around the country and was broadcast in the run up to the 2015 general election, the 2016 EU referendum and the 2017 US presidential inauguration.
In 2019, Dee announced his Off The Telly UK tour, which was rescheduled to 2021 and 2022. About his latest show, he said, “In these difficult and uncertain times people need hope – a ray of sunshine to brighten their day. And that’s very much where I come in.”
