View source for Dom Joly

{{Short description|British comedian and writer (born 1967)}}
{{Use British English|date=August 2022}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2023}}
{{Infobox comedian
| name         = Dom Joly
| image        = Dom Joly in 2011.jpg
| caption      = Joly in May 2011
| birth_name   = Dominic John Joly
| birth_date   = {{Birth date and age|1967|11|15|df=y}}
| birth_place  = [[Beirut]], Lebanon
| active       = 1999–present
| medium       = Television, books, stand-up
| genre        = [[Character comedy]], [[improvisational comedy]], [[physical comedy]]
| spouse       = Stacey MacDougall
| children=2<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.gloucestershirelive.co.uk/news/celebs-tv/dom-joly-vaping-turning-50-789707|title = Dom Joly on vaping, turning 50 and why he's an embarrassing dad|date = 19 November 2017}}</ref>
}}
'''Dominic John Romulus Joly''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|dʒ|ɒ|l|i}}; born 15 November 1967) is an English comedian and writer. He is best known as the star of ''[[Trigger Happy TV]]'' (2000–2003), a hidden camera [[Prank Show|prank show]] that was broadcast in over 70 countries.

==Early life==

Dominic John Romulus Joly was born in [[Beirut]] on 15 November 1967, to British parents John Joly and his second wife, Yvonne.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://uk.news.yahoo.com/amphtml/dom-joly-reveals-horror-classmate-bought-severed-head-school-growing-lebanon-113953802.html | title=Dom Joly reveals horror when classmate bought severed head into school growing up in Lebanon | date=29 October 2018 }}</ref> John Joly, a pilot with the [[Fleet Air Arm]] during the [[Second World War]], owned banking, insurance and shipping agency Henry Heald & Co., which had been managed, and later bought, by Joly's great-grandfather.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.standard.co.uk/culture/theatre/not-as-joly-as-he-seems-7280506.html|title = Not as Joly as he seems|date = 10 April 2012}}</ref><ref>The Downhill Hiking Club: A Short Walk Across the Lebanon, Dom Joly, Hachette UK, 2019</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.charlottereather.com/DomJoly.pdf |title=Dom Joly : TV's prankster and star of ''The Complainers'' has taken to country life like a duck to water. Hunting, shooting, polo? Bring It On, he says |author=Charlotte Reather |access-date=30 May 2015 |archive-date=3 March 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303233847/http://www.charlottereather.com/DomJoly.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Dom Joly Biography|url=http://celebirthdays.net/profile/dom-joly|website=Celebrity Birthdays|access-date=23 December 2016|archive-date=24 December 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161224101233/http://celebirthdays.net/profile/dom-joly|url-status=dead}}</ref> The family business is now run by Joly's sister.<ref name="auto">{{Cite web|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/columnists/dom-joly/dom-joly-a-sad-homecoming-to-bury-my-brave-father-2309785.html|title = Dom Joly: A sad homecoming, to bury my brave father|website = [[Independent.co.uk]]|date = 9 July 2011}}</ref> Joly's parents were "quite detached" and he was raised with a nanny; his parents separated when Joly was 18, and for 20 years he had little contact with his father, reconciling in his old age prior to the latter's death in 2011. He has a half-brother and two half-sisters resident in [[Lebanon]] and England, to whom he is not close.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2011/sep/10/dom-joly-my-family-values|title=Dom Joly: My family values|website=[[The Guardian]]|date=9 September 2011}}</ref><ref name="auto"/>

Joly attended [[Brummana High School]] in Lebanon.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/travel/2019/jun/09/dom-joly-foodie-tour-of-lebanon|title=Dom Joly's foodie tour of Lebanon|author=Dom Joly|website=[[The Guardian]]|date=9 June 2019|access-date=10 June 2019}}</ref><ref name="Child Genius 2017"/><ref>Also on television comedy panel show ''[[Would I Lie to You? (British game show)|Would I Lie to You?]]'', and radio show ''[[Loose Ends (radio programme)|Loose Ends]]'' 8 June 2019.</ref> He then moved to England, where he was educated at [[Dragon School]] in [[Oxford]] and [[Haileybury College]] near [[Hertford]]. He later attended the [[School of Oriental and African Studies]] at the [[University of London]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/theatre/article-3183026-not-as-joly-as-he-seems.do |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130505063148/http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/theatre/article-3183026-not-as-joly-as-he-seems.do|url-status=dead|archive-date=5 May 2013|title=Not as Joly as he seems|work=[[Evening Standard]]|location=London|date=31 January 2003|access-date=30 May 2015}}</ref> He studied for a degree in politics.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2020/feb/24/dom-joly-how-we-made-trigger-happy-tv|title=Dom Joly: How we made Trigger Happy TV|website=[[The Guardian]]|date=24 February 2020}}</ref> Joly speaks [[Arabic]], [[Czech language|Czech]] and French in addition to English.<ref name="Child Genius 2017">{{cite AV media |url=http://www.channel4.com/programmes/child-genius-vs-celebrities-christmas-special |title=''Child Genius vs Celebrities'' Christmas Special |publisher=[[Channel 4 Television]] |date=24 December 2017 |access-date=26 December 2017 |archive-date=26 December 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171226235328/http://www.channel4.com/programmes/child-genius-vs-celebrities-christmas-special |url-status=dead }}</ref>

In 2018, Joly told the ''[[Sunday People]]'' that when he was at school in Beirut in the 1970s a fellow pupil brought a severed head to show his class.<ref>{{Cite web |last=McKelvie |first=Geraldine |date=2018-10-27 |title=Dom Joly revisits trauma of childhood after meeting Ukrainian landmine victim |url=https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/dom-joly-revisits-trauma-childhood-13488246 |access-date=2022-06-09 |website=mirror |language=en}}</ref>

==Career==
After university, Joly was a diplomat, based in [[Prague]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/columnists/dom-joly/dom-joly-taming-my-inner-political-animal-435740.html|title = Dom Joly: Taming my inner political animal|website = [[Independent.co.uk]]|date = 11 February 2007}}</ref><ref>{{cite tweet|number=1416332940859084803|user=domjoly|title=@vivajohnyates I speak four languages, am a former diplomat and a former producer for ITN in Parliament with a degr…|date=17 July 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://english.radio.cz/accidental-diplomat-dom-joly-his-magical-year-early-90s-prague-8690688|title=The accidental diplomat: Dom Joly on his "magical" year in early '90s Prague|date=31 August 2020 }}</ref>

===Television===
====''Trigger Happy TV''====
{{main|Trigger Happy TV}}
The original series ran for two series on Channel 4 from 2000 to 2003.

In 2003, a new series of ''Trigger Happy TV'' was made for an American audience with an altered format that featured a band of different comedians who performed skits without Joly although he cameoed. Joly was not happy with the US version.<ref>{{cite news| url=http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/article405378.ece | work=The Times | location=London | title=Television The return of the king | date=2 January 2005 | access-date=1 May 2010}}{{dead link|date=September 2024|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref>

Following the success of ''Trigger Happy TV'' on [[Channel 4]], Joly was secured by the [[BBC]] for a rumoured £5&nbsp;million.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.chortle.co.uk/comics/d/33180/dom_joly|title=Dom Joly Biography|publisher=Chortle.co.uk|access-date=30 May 2015}}</ref>

====''This is Dom Joly''====
{{main|This Is Dom Joly}}

''This is Dom Joly'' was a spoof chat show presented by Dom Joly, originally shown on BBC Three in 2003.

====''World Shut Your Mouth''====
{{main|World Shut Your Mouth (TV_series)}}
''World Shut Your Mouth'' was a hidden camera television series starring Joly. It ran on Friday nights in 2005 on BBC One.

====''Dom Joly's Happy Hour''====

In this series which aired in 2006, Joly and his partner Peter Wilkins travelled the world and tried the unique alcoholic beverages of each country. It ran on [[BBC One]].

====''Made in Britain''====
In 2009, Joly fronted a show titled ''Made in Britain'', shown on the [[Blighty (TV channel)|Blighty]] channel in the UK.<ref>[http://www.loveblighty.co.uk] {{webarchive|url=https://archive.today/20120804145208/http://www.loveblighty.co.uk/|date=4 August 2012}}</ref>

====''Fool Britannia''====
In 2012–13, Joly made two series of ''[[Fool Britannia]]'', a hidden camera show that aired on Saturday evenings on ITV1.

====''Celebrity Island with Bear Grylls''====
In 2016, Joly was marooned on a desert island for two weeks for ''[[Celebrity Island with Bear Grylls]]''.

===''Pilgrimage''===
In 2020, Joly walked the [[Sultans Trail]] from Belgrade to Istanbul for the BBC One series ''[[Pilgrimage (TV series)|Pilgrimage]]''.<ref>{{cite news |title=Here's all you need to know about Pilgrimage Road To Istanbul |url=https://inews.co.uk/culture/pilgrimage-the-road-to-istanbul-line-up-cast-when-time-tonight-bbc-one-route-411154 |work=inews.co.uk |date=10 April 2020 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Pilgrimage: Road to Istanbul was more Duke of Edinburgh than RE |url=https://inews.co.uk/culture/pilgrimage-road-to-istanbul-bbc2-review-413133 |work=inews.co.uk |date=27 March 2020 |language=en}}</ref>

===Writing===
Joly was a columnist for ''[[The Independent on Sunday]]'' from 2003 until the paper closed in 2016.

He was thought to be the writer of a spoof column in ''[[The Independent]]'' and then ''[[i (British newspaper)|i]]'' called "Cooper Brown: He's out there",<ref name="cooper brown column">{{cite news|title=The Londoner's Diary |work=[[Evening Standard]]|location=London |date=25 October 2008 }}</ref> and later confirmed in his autobiography that this was the case.<ref>Joly, Dom, [https://books.google.com/books?id=1ZSdBAAAQBAJ&pg=PT141 ''Here Comes The Clown: A Stumble Through Show Business''], p. 141, Simon and Schuster, 2015, {{ISBN|0857207695}}, 9780857207692</ref> The column was presented as the work of an American character named Cooper Brown and revolves around his putative adventures as "a garrulous American showbiz type".<ref name="cooper brown">{{cite news |last=Spanier |first=Gideon |title=In the air |work=[[Evening Standard]]|location=London|date=10 January 2007 }}</ref>

In 2010, Joly published a travel book called ''The Dark Tourist: Sightseeing in the World's Most Unlikely Holiday Destinations'', investigating [[dark tourism]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/columnists/dom-joly/dom-joly-at-war-in-thailand-but-keeping-my-buddha-dry-1670899.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090421075425/http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/columnists/dom-joly/dom-joly-at-war-in-thailand-but-keeping-my-buddha-dry-1670899.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=21 April 2009 |work=The Independent |location=London |title=Dom Joly: At war in Thailand, but keeping my Buddha dry |date=19 April 2009 |access-date=1 May 2010}}</ref> In the book Joly travels to places that witnessed great tragedy and death, including [[Chernobyl]], which he visited on 4 May 2009; his childhood home of [[Lebanon]]; [[North Korea]]; various spots in the United States including locations of famous assassinations; the [[Khmer Rouge Killing Fields|Killing Fields of Cambodia]]; and Iran for a skiing holiday.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.tuppencemagazine.co.uk/dom-joly-the-dark-tourist.html |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120919050036/http://www.tuppencemagazine.co.uk/dom-joly-the-dark-tourist.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=19 September 2012 |work=Tuppence Magazine |location=London |title=Dom Joly, The Dark Tourist |date=1 March 2012 |access-date=14 March 2012 }}</ref> The book was published on 2 September 2010 in the UK.

Joly published his second travel book, ''Scary Monsters and Super Creeps'', in 2012. In the book, he travels the world in search of six [[cryptids]] such as [[Bigfoot]] and the [[Yeti]].

In 2019, Joly published the travel book ''[[The Hezbollah Hiking Club]]'', in which he documented his walk across Lebanon with two friends.

Joly was a special correspondent for the ''Independent'' at the [[2008 Summer Olympics]] in Beijing.<ref>{{Cite web |url= https://www.thenational.ae/business/british-comedian-dom-joly-works-to-live-a-fun-life-1.192367|title=British comedian Dom Joly works to live a 'fun' life |last=Locke |first=Suzanne |date=22 March 2016 |newspaper=The National |location=Abu Dhabi |access-date=13 February 2019}}</ref> While in Beijing, he also appeared daily on the ''Drive'' programme on Five Live.<ref>{{Cite press release |url= https://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/pressreleases/stories/2008/06_june/19/olympics7.shtml |title=2008 Olympics press pack: 5 live at the Olympics |date=19 June 2008 |publisher=BBC |access-date=13 February 2019}}</ref>

In 2023, Joly published a book ''[[The Conspiracy Tourist]]'', in which he travels the world investigating conspiracy theories and the people who believe them including QAnon, hunting for UFOs in Roswell, chasing Alex Jones of Infowars around Austin, trying to prove that Finland exists and taking a flat-earther to the edge of the world.

===Political career===
In the [[1997 UK general election]], Joly stood in [[Kensington and Chelsea (UK Parliament constituency)|Kensington and Chelsea]] against [[Alan Clark]]. Hiring out hundreds of [[teddy bear]] costumes, he staged mock protests at [[Palace of Westminster|Westminster]] and came fifth out of nine candidates, receiving 218 votes (0.6%).<ref name=Guardian>{{cite news |url=http://politics.guardian.co.uk/hoc/constituency/history/0,,-1052,00.html |title=Guardian Unlimited Politics, Kensington and Chelsea |access-date=27 September 2007 |work=The Guardian |location=London |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060625041945/http://politics.guardian.co.uk/hoc/constituency/history/0%2C%2C-1052%2C00.html |archive-date=25 June 2006 }}</ref>

===Podcast===
On 29 June 2018, Joly released the first episode of his comedy podcast, ''Earworm''.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Joly |first1=Dom |title=Earworm |url=https://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/earworm/id1398360650?mt=2 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180709170906/https://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/earworm/id1398360650?mt=2 |url-status=dead |archive-date=9 July 2018 |publisher=iTunes Store |access-date=9 July 2018}}</ref> In 2020 the second series of the podcast was released by [[Audible (store)|Audible]].

==Personal life==
Joly is married to Canadian graphic designer Stacey MacDougall. Having lived in the [[Notting Hill]] area of [[London]], the two later sold their apartment to novelist [[Salman Rushdie]] and bought a property in [[Gloucestershire]] to raise their children there.<ref>Dom Joly, ''The Dark Tourist'' (Chatham, 2010), p. 11.</ref>

Joly has spoken about his struggles with [[Generalized anxiety disorder|anxiety]] and [[Major depressive disorder|depression]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.mirror.co.uk/tv/tv-news/dom-joly-anxiety-attacks-trigger-3541359|title = Dom Joly on anxiety attacks: Trigger Happy TV star says they almost cost him his big break|website = [[Daily Mirror]]|date = 15 May 2014}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.standard.co.uk/go/london/theatre/not-as-joly-as-he-seems-7280506.html|title=Not as Joly as he seems|date=10 April 2012}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* [https://www.twitch.tv/domjoly Joly on Twitch]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20210924170559/https://www2.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2bc18c8385 Joly] at the [[British Film Institute]]
* {{IMDb name|id=0427237|name=Dom Joly}}
* [http://www.channel4.com/entertainment/tv/showcards/T/triggerhappytv.html Channel4.com – ''Trigger Happy TV'']
* {{British Comedy Guide|people|dom_joly}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Joly, Dom}}
[[Category:1967 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Alumni of SOAS University of London]]
[[Category:English columnists]]
[[Category:English male comedians]]
[[Category:English male journalists]]
[[Category:English television personalities]]
[[Category:English television presenters]]
[[Category:Liberal Democrats (UK)]]
[[Category:People educated at The Dragon School]]
[[Category:People educated at Haileybury and Imperial Service College]]
[[Category:Writers from Beirut]]
[[Category:The Independent people]]
[[Category:HuffPost writers and columnists]]
[[Category:20th-century English comedians]]
[[Category:21st-century English comedians]]
[[Category:21st-century English writers]]
[[Category:People from Notting Hill]]
[[Category:Comedians from the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea]]
[[Category:Brummana High School alumni]]