Sanderson Jones (born 1981) 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 ...

, broadcaster and

social entrepreneur Social entrepreneurship is an approach by individuals, groups, Startup company, start-up companies or entrepreneurs, in which they develop, fund and implement solutions to social, cultural, or environmental issues. This concept may be applied to ...

based in London. He co-founded

Sunday Assembly Sunday Assembly is a non-religious gathering co-founded by Sanderson Jones and Pippa Evans in January 2013 in London, England. The gathering is mostly for non-religious people who want a similar communal experience to a religious church, thou ...

, a worldwide movement of non-religious congregations, with Pippa Evans in 2013. Jones was nominated for Malcolm Hardee Awards in 2011 and for

Chortle Awards The Chortle Awards were set up in 2002 by the comedy website Chortle to honour the best of established stand-up comics currently working in the UK. A panel of reviewers draw up a shortlist, which is presented for public vote at the Chortle webs ...

in 2012.

Biography

Jones was born in 1981 in London. He started his professional comedy career in 2008. He is known for his conceptual performances, with '' the Skinny'' saying "Sanderson creates genres at the same rate other comedians write shows". Between 2009 and 2011, Jones also worked as a

film critic Film criticism is the analysis and evaluation of films and the film medium. In general, film criticism can be divided into two categories: Academic criticism by film scholars, who study the composition of film theory and publish their findin ...

for '' The Lady'',

Britain Britain most often refers to: * Great Britain, a large island comprising the countries of England, Scotland and Wales * The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, a sovereign state in Europe comprising Great Britain and the north-eas ...

's longest-running weekly

women's magazine This is a list of women's magazines from around the world. These are magazines that have been published primarily for a readership of woman, women. Currently published *''10 Magazine (UK), 10 Magazine'' (UK – distributed worldwide) *''Al Jam ...

. In 2010, Jones performed for the first time at the

Edinburgh Festival Fringe 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 ...

. His show ''Taking Liberties'' challenged the legal definition of art and received positive reviews from several newspapers including ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

''. In April 2011, Jones took his show ''Taking Liberties'' to

Melbourne International Comedy Festival The Melbourne International Comedy Festival (MICF) is the largest stand-alone comedy festival and the largest international comedy festival in the world. First held in 1987, it takes place annually in Melbourne over four weeks, typically starti ...

where it received favourable reviews from ''

The Age ''The Age'' is a daily newspaper in Melbourne, Australia, that has been published since 1854. Owned and published by Nine Entertainment, ''The Age'' primarily serves Victoria (Australia), Victoria, but copies also sell in Tasmania, the Austral ...

'' and ''

The Sydney Morning Herald ''The Sydney Morning Herald'' (''SMH'') is a daily Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid newspaper published in Sydney, Australia, and owned by Nine Entertainment. Founded in 1831 as the ''Sydney Herald'', the ''Herald'' is the oldest continuous ...

''. In August 2011, Jones created the show ''Comedy Sale'' where every single ticket was sold in person. The show had a sold-out run and was one of the best-reviewed shows of the 2011 Edinburgh Festival Fringe. In every show of ''Comedy Sale'', Jones would research the audience and include their social media into the performance. In October 2011, the show went to the

Union Chapel, Islington Union Chapel is a working Congregational church, live-entertainment venue and charity drop-in centre for the homeless in Islington, London, England. Built in the late 19th century in the Gothic revival style, the church is a Listed building, G ...

where it played to 700 people, who he had all met previously. The show was nominated for a Malcolm Hardee Awards in 2011, and for a

Chortle Award The Chortle Awards were set up in 2002 by the comedy website Chortle to honour the best of established stand-up comics currently working in the UK. A panel of reviewers draw up a shortlist, which is presented for public vote at the Chortle webs ...

in 2012. In 2012, Jones took ''Comedy Sale'' to

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

where he played shows at the

Adelaide Town Hall Adelaide Town Hall is a landmark building on King William Street in Adelaide, South Australia, Australia. The City of Adelaide Town Hall complex includes the Town Hall and the office building at 25 Pirie Street. Description and history Adelaid ...

, The National Theatre, and the

Sydney Opera House The Sydney Opera House is a multi-venue Performing arts center, performing arts centre in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Located on the foreshore of Sydney Harbour, it is widely regarded as one of the world's most famous and distinctive b ...

. In January 2013, he was a part of

Mark Watson Mark Andrew Watson (born 13 February 1980) is an English comedian, novelist and producer. Early life Watson was born in Bristol to a Welsh people, Welsh mother and English father. He has younger twin sisters and a brother, Paul Watson (footba ...

’s 24 Hour Comedy Show 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 ...

'' and broke the world record for the world's longest hug. In 2013, Jones co-founded

with Pippa Evans. Sunday Assembly is a non-religious gathering headquartered in

London, England London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

. Sunday Assembly has been widely studied and spread rapidly with ''

The Daily Beast ''The Daily Beast'' is an American news website focused on politics, media, and pop culture. Founded in 2008, the website is owned by IAC Inc. It has been characterized as a "high-end tabloid" by Noah Shachtman, the site's editor-in-chief ...

'' calling it "the world's fastest growing church". In 2015 researchers from Oxford University and Brunel University completed a 6-month longitudinal survey of Sunday Assembly participants, and found that attending was correlated to improved wellbeing in a significant way. For his work on Sunday Assembly, Jones was elected to the ''

Ashoka Fellowship Ashoka (formerly branded Ashoka: Innovators for the Public) is an American-based nonprofit organization that promotes social entrepreneurship by connecting and supporting individual social entrepreneurs. Ashoka invests in over 3,800 social entre ...

'' which recognises leading social entrepreneurs with solutions to social problems who seek to make large-scale changes to society. He has also received awards and recognition from

Nesta Nesta (formerly NESTA, National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts) is a British foundation, registered as a charity, which supports innovation. Nesta was originally funded by a £250 million endowment from the UK National Lotter ...

and

UnLtd UnLtd - The Foundation for Social Entrepreneurs is a charitable organisation in the United Kingdom.Dan Snow Daniel Robert Snow (born 3 December 1978) is a British Popular history, popular historian and television presenter. He is an ambassador of the Electoral Reform Society (ERS). Early life and education Born in Westminster, London Dan Snow is the ...

's ''History Hit'' and funded by Understanding Unbelief, the world's largest study of atheists and agnostics. In May 2020, Jones contributed to two

BBC World Service The BBC World Service is a British Public broadcasting, public service broadcaster owned and operated by the BBC. It is the world's largest external broadcaster in terms of reception area, language selection and audience reach. It broadcas ...

programmes on community and prayer.

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jones, Sanderson People from London British comedians British broadcasters 1981 births Living people British social entrepreneurs

Biography

See also

References

External links