Dane Baptiste (born 3 September 1981) is a British stand-up comedian, writer and presenter. He was the first Black British act to be nominated for the "Best Newcomer" award at 2014's

Edinburgh Comedy Awards The Edinburgh Comedy Awards (formerly the Perrier Comedy Awards, and also briefly known by other names for sponsorship reasons) are presented to the comedy shows deemed to have been the best at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in Scotland. Establ ...

and his comedy series ''Sunny D'' premiered on

BBC Three BBC Three is a British free-to-air Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It was first launched on 9 February 2003 with programmes for a 16 to 34-year-old target aud ...

in Spring 2016. He has made numerous TV and radio appearances, and hosts his own podcast ''Dane Baptiste Questions Everything''. In January 2021, Baptiste's comedy pilot ''Bamous'' launched on BBC Three / BBC One.

Early life

Baptiste is from

Hither Green Hither Green is a district in south-east London, England, in the London Borough of Lewisham. It forms the southern part of Lewisham, 6.6 miles (10.6 km) south-east of Charing Cross, and on the Prime Meridian. Growing extensively with ...

, South East London. He attended

Haberdashers' Hatcham College Haberdashers' Hatcham College (formerly Haberdashers' Aske's Hatcham College) is a state secondary school with academy status and a music specialism in New Cross, south-east London. The school was formerly a grammar school, then a comprehensi ...

New Cross New Cross is an area in south-east London, England, south-east of Charing Cross in the London Borough of Lewisham and the London_postal_district#List_of_London_postal_districts, SE14 postcode district. New Cross is near St Johns, London, St Jo ...

, and then achieved a degree in business at

Bradford University The University of Bradford is a public research university located in the city of Bradford, West Yorkshire, England. A plate glass university, it received its royal charter in 1966, making it the 40th university to be created in Britain, but ...

. He worked in media sales before becoming a comedian.

Stand up career

Baptiste started performing stand-up comedy in 2012. Baptiste was the first Black Briton to be nominated for the 2014 “Best Newcomer”

Edinburgh Comedy Award The Edinburgh Comedy Awards (formerly the Perrier Comedy Awards, and also briefly known by other names for sponsorship reasons) are presented to the comedy shows deemed to have been the best at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in Scotland. Establ ...

. After the success of his debut stand up-show “Citizen Dane”, he completed two sold-out runs at London's

Soho Theatre Soho Theatre is a theatre and registered charity in the Soho district of the City of Westminster, and Soho Theatre Walthamstow in north-east London. It produces and presents new works of theatre, together with comedy and cabaret, across three pe ...

(with additional dates added to accommodate demand) He was nominated for a

Chortle Chortle is a British comedy website launched in 2000 by Steve Bennett. The site is a major source of comedy news in the UK. It also reviews comedy shows nationwide, including extensively at the annual Edinburgh Festival Fringe, and presents the C ...

award in 2015. His second stand-up show “Reasonable Doubts” at the 2015

Edinburgh Fringe Festival The Edinburgh Festival Fringe (also referred to as the Edinburgh Fringe, the Fringe or the Edinburgh Fringe Festival) is the world's largest performance arts festival, which in 2024 spanned 25 days, sold more than 2.6 million tickets and featur ...

, sold out and was met with critical acclaim with his first nationwide solo tour following in 2016. In 2018, Baptiste set out on a world tour, including Australia and New Zealand, with his smash-hit stand-up hour ''G.O.D. (Gold. Oil. Drugs.)'' about the worldwide pursuit of wealth, power and pleasure. In 2021, Baptiste launched a new show and international tour, ''The Chocolate Chip''.

Television career

Baptiste has made various television appearances on '' Sweat the Small Stuff'', ''

Virtually Famous ''Virtually Famous'' is a British comedy panel game show most recently presented by Chris Ramsey. In each episode, two teams of three panelists compete. The teams were, in the final series, captained by Vicky Pattison and Seann Walsh. The que ...

'', ''

Celebrity Squares ''Celebrity Squares'' is a British comedy game show based on the American comedy game show ''Hollywood Squares''. It first ran on ITV from 20 July 1975 to 7 July 1979 and was hosted by Bob Monkhouse, then—also hosted by Monkhouse— ...

'', ''

Safeword In BDSM, a safeword is a code word, series of code words or other signal used by a person to communicate their physical or emotional state, typically when approaching, or crossing, a physical, emotional, or moral boundary. Some safewords are use ...

'', '' Live at the Apollo'', ''

Live from the BBC ''Live from the BBC'' is a British stand-up comedy series that has aired on the online BBC Three service since 17 February 2016. Three series have aired, both with six episodes. Series one has two comedians per episode (three in episode 5) and s ...

'', '' Alan Davies: As Yet Untitled'', ''

Mock the Week ''Mock the Week'' is a topical satirical celebrity panel show, created by Dan Patterson and Mark Leveson. It was produced by Angst Productions for BBC Two, and was broadcast from 5 June 2005 to 4 November 2022. Presenter Dara Ó Briain and pan ...

'', ''

8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown ''8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown'' is a British comedy panel show on Channel 4. The show follows the game of '' Countdown'', but presented in a comedy panel show format seen on ''8 Out of 10 Cats'', with the show being a crossover of the two. ...

'', ''Pants of Fire,'' ''Stand Up Sketch Show'',

Pointless ''Pointless'' is a Television in the United Kingdom, British television quiz show produced by Banijay Entertainment subsidiary Remarkable Entertainment for the BBC and hosted by Alexander Armstrong. In each episode, four teams of two contestan ...

Comedy Central Comedy Central is an American Cable television in the United States, cable television channel, channel owned by Paramount Global through its Paramount Media Networks, network division's Paramount Media Networks#MTV Entertainment Group, MTV Ente ...

Roast Battle ''Roast Battle'' is a British roast comedy show that is broadcast on Comedy Central. The show is hosted by Jimmy Carr and features comedians facing each other in roast battles. The show was created by American comedians Jeff Ross and Brian Moses ...

, ''Comedians Giving Lectures'', ''Comedians Solving World Problems'', ''Gagging Order'', ''Elevenish', CelebAbility'', ''Black, British and Funny'', ''Frankie Boyle's New World Order'', and ''Alan Davies: As Yet Untitled.'' He has hosted ''Live At The Apollo'' (

BBC Two BBC Two is a British free-to-air Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's second flagship channel, and it covers a wide range of subject matte ...

), ''Live from the Comedy Store'' ( ''Comedy Central'') and ''

Tonight at the London Palladium ''Tonight at the London Palladium'' is a British television variety show that is hosted from the London Palladium theatre in the West End. Originally produced by ATV for the ITV network from 1955 to 1969, it went by its original name ''Sunday ...

'' (

ITV1 ITV1 (formerly known as ITV) is a British free-to-air Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the British media company ITV plc. It provides the ITV (TV network), Channel 3 ...

). In December 2018 he won a week-long series in the BBC's ''

Richard Osman's House of Games ''Richard Osman's House of Games'' is a British quiz show hosted by Richard Osman and produced by Banijay UK Productions subsidiary Remarkable Entertainment for the BBC. The show is played on a weekly basis, with four celebrities playing on f ...

''. In 2016 Baptiste created, wrote and starred in sitcom ''Sunny D'', which was then purchased for an American remake in 2018 by

Lionsgate Pictures Lionsgate Films (spelled as Lions Gate until 2005, and formerly Cinépix Film Properties until 1998) is a Canadian-American film production and distribution company founded in Montreal, Quebec, Canada on June 15, 1962. It was owned by Lionsgate ...

. During the 2020 lockdown Baptiste performed on '' The Big Night In'' for

Children in Need ''BBC Children in Need'' is the BBC's UK Charitable organization, charity dedicated to supporting disadvantaged children and young people across the country. Established in 1980, the organisation has raised over £1 billion by 2023 through its ...

and ''

Comic Relief Comic Relief is a British charity, founded in 1986 by the comedy scriptwriter Richard Curtis and comedian Sir Lenny Henry in response to the 1983–1985 famine in Ethiopia. The concept of Comic Relief was to get British comedians to make t ...

''. In January 2021, Baptiste's BBC pilot ''Bamous'' premiered on BBC Three / BBC One.

Writing career

In 2016 Baptiste wrote his first sitcom Sunny D which was the first commissioned pilot written by a Black British comedian on the BBC in 20 years. In 2020, Baptiste created and wrote BBC pilot ''Bamous.'' Baptiste hosted his own podcast ''Dane Baptiste Questions Everything'', is a member of comedy collective ''Quotas Full'' and is currently working on numerous scripted projects for both the UK and US. He is now host of a new podcast Citizen Dane and co-host of the Mind Your Business podcast. Baptiste wrote for

Idris Elba Idrissa Akuna Elba Order of the British Empire, OBE ( ; born 6 September 1972) is an English actor and musician. He has received a Golden Globe Award as well as nominations for three BAFTA Awards and six Primetime Emmy Awards, Emmy Awards. He w ...

at the 2018

FIFA The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (), more commonly known by its acronym FIFA ( ), is the international self-regulatory governing body of association football, beach soccer, and futsal. It was founded on 21 May 1904 to o ...

Awards. He has also appeared on other podcasts including ''Evil Genius with

Russell Kane Russell Kane (born Russell David Anthony Grineau; 19 August 1975) is an English writer, comedian, and actor. He has four times been nominated at the Edinburgh Comedy Awards, winning the Best Comedy Show award in 2010. Although known mainly for ...

'', ''West: Word - The Westworld podcast'' for Sky TV, Geoff Lloyd's ''Hometown Glory'' o
Union Jack Radio
, ''FRANK with Olivia Lee and Maria Shehat'', '' The Gaffer Tapes: Fantasy Football Podcast,'' and ''Mo Money, Mo Problems'' with

Mo Gilligan Mosiah Bikila Gilligan (born 19 February 1988) is a British stand-up comedian, television presenter and content creator. He is known for his observational comedy. After several years of uploading comedy clips to social media, he found a wider au ...

. He has been a guest on several episodes of BBC Radio 4's

Just A Minute ''Just a Minute'' is a BBC Radio 4 radio comedy panel game. For more than 50 years, with a few exceptions, it was hosted by Nicholas Parsons. Following Parsons' death in 2020, Sue Perkins became the permanent host, starting with the 87th ser ...

and

The News Quiz ''The News Quiz'' is a British topical panel game broadcast on BBC Radio 4, first broadcast in 1977. The show, created by John Lloyd from an idea by Nicholas Parsons, has seen several hosts, including Barry Norman, Barry Took, Simon Hogg ...

Controversy

On 1 May 2024, Baptiste issued a death threat on social media to an unidentified female comic, whom he described as a "Zionist" and a "dumb woman". Baptiste said he wanted the recipient of the message to "sit down with your husband and kids and imagine what their lives will be without you... I'll sit in prison while your family sit in the cemetery". His post was condemned by other comedians as being

antisemitic Antisemitism or Jew-hatred is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who harbours it is called an antisemite. Whether antisemitism is considered a form of racism depends on the school of thought. Antisemi ...

and

misogynist Misogyny () is hatred of, contempt for, or prejudice against women or girls. It is a form of sexism that can keep women at a lower social status than men, thus maintaining the social roles of patriarchy. Misogyny has been widely practised ...

, resulting in his agents, Gag Reflex and Insanity Group, dropping Baptiste the following day. Baptiste later described the post as "a massive error of judgment" and apologised to the Jewish community, colleagues and fans.

References

External links

*
Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Baptiste, Dane 1981 births Living people 21st-century English male actors Alumni of the University of Bradford Antisemitism in England Black British male actors Black British male comedians Black British comedians English people of Grenadian descent English male actors English stand-up comedians Male actors from London Actors from the London Borough of Lewisham 21st-century English comedians Comedians from the London Borough of Lewisham