Darren Harriott (born 1 September 1988) is a British

stand-up comedian Stand-up comedy is a performance directed to a live audience, where the performer stands on a stage and delivers humorous and satirical monologues sometimes incorporating physical acts. These performances are typically composed of rehear ...

from

Oldbury, West Midlands Oldbury is a market town in the metropolitan borough of Sandwell, in the county of the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. It is the administrative centre of the borough. At the United Kingdom Census 2011, 2011 census, the town had a ...

. He was nominated for the Best Newcomer Award and Best Show Award at the

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 ...

in 2017 and 2019 respectively.

Early life

Harriott was born to parents Patrick and Paulette, and grew up in Oldbury, near

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...

in the West Midlands. His father was a drug dealer who was incarcerated during Harriott's childhood. He died by suicide while Harriott was still a child.

Career

Harriott moved to London at the age of 26 to pursue a career in comedy. He worked as a security guard at venues including the

Hammersmith Apollo The Hammersmith Apollo, currently called the Eventim Apollo for sponsorship reasons, and formerly and still commonly known as the Hammersmith Odeon, is a live entertainment performance venue, originally built as a cinema called the Gaumont Pa ...

to finance his early years. Harriott has toured the UK with his shows ''Visceral'' and ''Good Heart Yute'', and regularly appears at comedy clubs across the country. His stand-up shows became the basis for his

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. The station replaced the BBC Home Service on 30 September 1967 and broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes from the BBC's headquarters at Broadcasti ...

series ''Darren Harriott's Black Label''. Harriott has appeared on multiple television shows such as '' Live at the Apollo'', ''

The Last Leg ''The Last Leg'' (known during its first series as ''The Last Leg with Adam Hills'' and in Australia as ''Adam Hills: The Last Leg'') is a British late-night television humorous talk/sketch show that originally ran alongside the 2012 Summer Par ...

'', ''Ghost Bus Tours'', '' Hey Tracey!'', ''Comedy Games Night'', ''

8 Out of 10 Cats ''8 Out of 10 Cats'' (stylised as ''8 out of 10 CATS'') is a British comedy panel show that aired from 3 June 2005 to 17 January 2021. It was first broadcast on Channel 4 from 2005 to 2015, then More4 from 2016 to 2017, and finally E4 from ...

'', '' The Apprentice: You're Fired!'', '' The Great British Bake Off: An Extra Slice'', ''Catchpoint'' for

Sport Relief ''Sport Relief'' was a wikt:biennial, biennial charity event from Comic Relief, in association with BBC Sport, established in 2002. It was the idea of Kevin Cahill, CBE, who had joined Comic Relief in 1991 to establish a new department as Dire ...

, ''

University Challenge ''University Challenge'' is a British television quiz programme which first aired in 1962. ''University Challenge'' aired for 913 episodes on ITV from 21 September 1962 to 31 December 1987, presented by quizmaster Bamber Gascoigne. The BBC ...

'' for

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 ...

, '' CelebAbility'', ''The Stand Up Sketch Show'', '' Jon Richardson: Ultimate Worrier'', '' Celebrity Mastermind'', '' Pointless Celebrities'', ''Dave Gorman: Terms and Conditions Apply'',

Dave Dave may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Dave'' (film), a 1993 film starring Kevin Kline and Sigourney Weaver * ''Dave'' (musical), a 2018 stage musical adaptation of the 1993 film * ''Dave'' (TV series), a 2020 American comedy series * ...

's ''Comedy Against Living Miserably'', ''Comedy Central Live'', '' Roast Battle'', ''

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 ...

'', ''Comedy Central at the Comedy Store'', ''

Hypothetical A hypothesis (: hypotheses) is a proposed explanation for a phenomenon. A scientific hypothesis must be based on observations and make a testable and reproducible prediction about reality, in a process beginning with an educated guess or tho ...

'', '' Russell Howard's Stand Up Central'', ''Don't Hate the Playaz'', '' Love Island'', and ''The Comedy Bus''. On radio he has hosted '' Newsjack Unplugged'', ''Comedy of the Week'' for

and the BBC Radio 4 Summer Festival. Radio appearances include

shows ''Best of the Fest'' and ''

The Now Show ''The Now Show'' is a British radio comedy programme on BBC Radio 4 which satirises the weekly news. The show, which ran from 1998 to 2024, is a mixture of stand-up, sketches and songs hosted by Steve Punt and Hugh Dennis. It features regular ...

'', and

BBC Radio 5 Live BBC Radio 5 Live is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It broadcasts mainly news, sport, Talk show, discussion, interviews and phone-ins, and is on air 24 hours a day. It is the principal BBC radio station Broadca ...

comedy sports panel show '' Fighting Talk''. He appeared on Dave's ''

Campaign Against Living Miserably Campaign Against Living Miserably, or CALM, is a registered charity based in England. CALM runs a free, confidential and anonymous helpline as well as a web chat service, offering help, advice and information to anyone who is struggling or in c ...

'', where he discussed his father's incarceration and death. In late 2021, Harriott co-presented the Dave travelogue ''British as Folk'' alongside fellow comedians Ivo Graham and Fern Brady. In 2022, he was a regular panellist on ''Love Island''s companion show ''Aftersun''. He co-hosts the podcast ''Shame is Delicious'' with Eshaan Akbar. In 2023, Harriott was a contestant on the fifteenth series of ''Dancing on Ice'', finishing seventh alongside professional partner Tippy Packard.

Filmography

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Harriott, Darren Living people 1988 births 21st-century British comedians Black British male comedians Black British comedians British people of Jamaican descent British stand-up comedians Comedians from the West Midlands (county) People from Oldbury, West Midlands