UK Comedians Past and Present Trivia Quiz

Answer: Scottish

Billy Connolly was born on 24 November 1942, in Anderston, Glasgow, Scotland. Billy has just about done it all! He has been an actor, musician, television presenter, artist and retired stand-up comedian. He also has the nickname of the "Big Yin", aka, the Big One.

Maybe he is best known as a stand-up comedian. He doesn't just tell jokes; instead, he makes up stories along the way. He has been in well-known films like "Muppet Treasure Island" (1996), "Mrs Brown" (1997), "The Last Samurai" (2003), and "The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five". Not only that, but he also did the voice-over for King Fergus in the Disney Pixar movie "Brave" (2012).

Sadly, in 2013 Billy was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease. In 2018 he bowed out of comedy and involved himself in art, producing drawings and sculptures.

Answer: Scottish

Jane Godley Currie was born on 20 January 1961, in Lennoxtown, Stirlingshire, Scotland, and died on 2 November 2024 of cancer.

Janey began her stand-up career in 1994 and soon became popular. She was also an actress, writer, and political activist. Before Janey became a comedian, she ran a pub with her husband called the Weavers Inn public house in Glasgow. The pub was the inspiration for her to enter the world of comedy. Her dubbed parodies of Nicola Sturgeon's COVID-19 news briefings during the pandemic brought her widespread viral popularity. She gained increased recognition in comedy and social media interest as a result of Covid and the mickey-taking of Nicola. In her career she won several awards, including "Best Show Concept" at the New Zealand International Comedy Festival in 2002 and the "Spirit of the Festival" in 2006.

In 2004, she appeared in "Kings of Comedy", a reality television game show. In 2009 she appeared in the soap "River City", and in 2019-2020, she appeared in a British television crime drama called "Traces".

Answer: Scottish

Roderick Keith Ogilvy, known as Rory Bremner, was born on 6 April 1961, in Edinburgh, Scotland. Rory is an impressionist and comedian, and a good one too!

The turning point for Rory was in 1985 when he released a single record called "N-N-Nineteen Not Out". It was a parody of Paul Hardcastle's hit "19". Instead of a song about the Vietnam War, it was about the England cricket team's disastrous 1984 home series against the West Indies, where the England captain averaged just 19 runs.

Rory is known for his impressions of Tony Blair, Gordon Brown, Richie Benaud, John Arlott, Theresa May, and Boris Johnson.

Answer: Scottish

Stanley Baxter was born on the 24 of May 1926, in Glasgow, Scotland. Stanly, now retired, was an actor, comedian, impressionist, and author. He had his own TV show called "The Stanley Baxter Show", which was first broadcast on 18 May 1963, and ran until 19 February 1971 on the BBC One channel. The show moved to ITV between 1972 and 1975, and the name was slightly changed to "The Stanley Baxter Picture Show"; it was more or less the same show that aired on the BBC.

In the world of film Baxter appeared in "Geordie" (1955), "Very Important Person" (1961), "The Fast Lady" (1962), and "Joey Boy" (1965). He also voiced in the animation film "The Thief and the Cobbler" (1993).

Other TV shows in which Stanley appeared were "The Goodies" (BBC, 1971, Guest Appearance), "Rab C. Nesbitt" (BBC, 1991, Guest Appearance), and "The Many Faces of Stanley Baxter" (2013). One of Stanley Baxter's famous impressions was that of Queen Elizabeth II, known as "the Duchess of Brendagh" in his show.

Answer: Irish

Jonathan Kenny was born on 28 September 1957, in County Limerick, Ireland, and died on 15 November 2024, from heart failure and lung cancer.

The Irish comedian and actor was well known for being part of the Irish comedy duo "D'Unbelievables" with Pat Shortt. In 2007 Kenny released his first solo stand-up comedy DVD called "Back to Front". Kenny has appeared in several TV programmes, including "Father Ted", "The Fitz", "The Restaurant", and "The Tommy Tiernan Show". He also appeared in the 2014 film "Song of the Sea" and as Gerry in the 2022 film "The Banshees of Inisherin".

Answer: Irish

Dave Allen was born as David Tynan O'Mahony. Dave was born on 6 July 1936, in Dublin, Ireland, and died on 10 March 2005 of sudden arrhythmic death syndrome.

The first thing I remember about Dave Allen is his trademark glass of whisky on a table while he was going through his routine while sitting on a stool. In 1959 he appeared on a BBC talent show called "New Faces", and in the early part of the 1960s he hosted a few pop music programmes. In July 1963 he was asked to headline a television talk show for Channel 9, titled "Tonight with Dave Allen". In 1968 a new show titled "The Dave Allen Show" was broadcasted; this was followed by "Dave Allen At Large" (1971-1979).

A new programme was aired between 1981 and 1990 titled just "Dave Allen" on BBC 1 TV. The show consisted of sketches and a stand-up routine. In 1993 Dave moved to ITV with his own show, "Dave Allen Show"; this would be the last television series that Dave would host.

Dave Allen did occasionally talk about his profession on chat shows. Between snippets from his previous BBC shows, he made an appearance in the six-part "The Unique Dave Allen" (BBC, 1997), discussing comedy and events in his life.

Answer: Irish

Graham Norton was born as Graham William Walker on the 4 April 1963, in Clondalkin, County Dublin, Ireland. Graham is an Irish comedian, broadcaster, actor, and writer. He first started his career doing stand-up comedy, but the road to fame for Graham really began when he appeared on the TV programme "Father Ted" (1996-1998); he played the part of Father Noel Furlong in three episodes. Between 1998 and 2002, he was the host for five seasons in his own programme called "So Graham Norton". In 2004-05 he was the host for another one of his shows called "The Graham Norton Effect", which ran for 13 episodes.

From 2016 to 2019, Norton was host for the Children in Need With Ade Adepitan and Mel Giedroyc. He has been known for his amusing commentary as the British commentator on the Eurovision Song Contest since 2008. It was revealed in February 2019 that Norton and Alan Carr would alternate as judges on RuPaul's Drag Race UK.

During his career, Graham has won Best Entertainment Performance, British Academy Television Awards, Best Comedy Programme or Series, and the Royal Television Society Award.

Answer: Irish

Dara O Briain was born on 4 February 1972, in Bray, County Wicklow, Ireland. Dara is an Irish comedian and television presenter. He has performed his stand-up comedy routine all over the world, including, Asia, Australia and North America. He has been the host of the TV programmes "Mock the Week", "The Panel", and "The Apprentice: You're Fired!"

The turning point for Dara's career was when he appeared as a guest on the British television panel show, "Have I Got News for You". Because of the reception he got on the show, he later became a guest host for the show several times. Dara was the host for the BBC 2 show "Mock the Week"; he spent 15 years as host between 2005 and 2022.

Dara was also a regular in "QI." This quiz show focuses on fascinating facts. Also, Dara is the one with the most live appearances at the Apollo Theatre. In April 2025, O Briain presented "Volcano with Dara O Briain", a two-part series on Channel 5.

Answer: English

Peter Kay was born in July 1973, in Farnworth, Lancashire. He is an English comedian, actor, writer, and director. The show that put Peter Kay on the map was Channel 4's "So You Think You're Funny" contest, which Peter won in 1997.

After the success Peter had with the show, he co-wrote and starred in the Channel 4 mockumentary series "That Peter Kay Thing" (2000), and that led quickly to Peter Kay's "Phoenix Nights" (2001-2002) and "Max and Paddy's Road to Nowhere", (2004). In 2015, Peter won the Comedy.co.uk award for Comedy of the Year. In 2016, Peter won the BAFTA TV Award for Best Male Comedy Performance, the BAFTA TV Award for Best Scripted Comedy, and, in 2017, was the winner of the I Talk Telly Award for the Best Comedy Partnership.

In the world of stand-up comedians, Peter has excelled. "The Tour That Doesn't Tour... Now On Tour" started on 27 April 2010. With 1.2 million people who came to see the show, it became the most successful stand-up comedy tour ever and was inducted into the Guinness Book of World Records in January 2012. He toured in 2022-2025 with "Better Late Than Never", which had 121 dates, and the planning for another tour is in the works.

One of the TV sketches has Peter sitting at a dinner party with his friends at a restaurant when his phone rings. He tells his friends it's his wife Sarah, and he asks Sarah to put his daughter Britney on. Britney tells her dad she is having nightmares about the "Wardrobe Monsters". Peter tells his daughter not to be silly. There are no such things as wardrobe monsters, and she should be more worried about burglars people breaking in through the windows.

Answer: English

If you're old enough, who can't forget Benny Hill? Benny Hill was born as Alfred Hawthorne Hill, but is known to the fans as Benny Hill. He was born on 21 January 1924, in Southampton, England, and died on 18 April 1992. Although he was an actor, scriptwriter and comedian, he is probably known for his programme "The Benny Hill Show". The show was a mixture of slapstick, burlesque, double entendre, and innuendo. Also, in the show was "Hill's Angels", a dance troupe who would be in a sketch or performing a dance routine. Back in the day it was funny, but maybe today it's not politically correct!

One of the characters Hill played was a chap called "Fred Scuttle" who was a business man but never had any luck or good fortune. He also played Dickie Davies (sports commentator), Chow Mein (Chinese entrepreneur), and Benny the Bum (aka "The Vagabond").

Grave robbers dug and broke open Hill's coffin on the evening of October 4, 1992, after speculating that he had been buried with a significant quantity of gold and jewellery. It was false, and his body was reburied with a thick concrete slab on the top for protection.

Answer: English

Geoffrey McIntyre Rowe was born on 8 March 1948 in St Buryan, Cornwall, England. However, he is better known as Jethro. Jethro was a Cornish stand-up comedian and singer. He began his career singing in local pubs around Cornwall, but one night he lost his voice and started telling jokes instead. The audience loved his humour and stories, so he developed his act further and began performing in working men's clubs and at stag parties.

In the 1970s and 1980s, Jethro became a very popular stand-up comedian. During the 1990s, he appeared several times on the "Des O'Connor Show" and five times on Jim Davidson's "The Generation Game". I think it's fair to say that Jethro faced restrictions on television due to his content, but in theatres and working men's clubs, the situation was different.

One of his best-known routines was the story titled "This Train Don't Stop Camborne Wednesdays". One reason for its popularity was that it could be shown on TV, as it was neither rude nor blue. Being Cornish, Jethro had a distinctive voice that you could recognize from a mile away. He also dressed in a countryside style, sometimes wearing corduroy trousers, a tweed waistcoat or jacket, brown shoes, etc. Some people found his jokes and storytelling a bit over the top, sometimes touching on topics like racism and sexism, but in my opinion, it was all done in good faith.

Jethro died on December 14, 2021. He had been battling cancer of the lymphatic system for two years before contracting COVID-19.

Answer: English

Jimmy Carr was born on the 15 September 1972, in Hounslow, London. Jimmy is a stand-up comedian and television show presenter. He has been a host and presenter on several shows, including "8 Out of 10 Cats", (2005-2021), "A Comedy Roast", (2010-2011), "Roast Battle", (2018-2020), and "I Literally Just Told You", (2021). He has also been on as a guest on several shows, including "The Chase: Celebrity Special" (2012, 2019), "Catchphrase: Celebrity Special" (2018), and "A League of Their Own" (2010-2017).

Carr has a huge following all over the UK; his tour usually sells out quickly. His first stand-up show was called "Charm Offensive", (2003-2004); this was followed by "A Public Display of Affection", (2004-2006). In 2024-2025, his latest tour was called "Laughs Funny".

Carr has won the Royal Television Society Award: Best On-Screen Newcomer (2003), the LAFTA Award: Funniest Man (2005), and the British Comedy Award: Best Live Stand-Up (2006).

In October 2009, Carr received criticism from Sunday tabloid newspapers for a joke he made about British soldiers who had lost limbs in Iraq and Afghanistan. I'm not going to say what he said, as personally I find it unacceptable. I know it's just a joke, but there are limits.