{{Short description|British comedian}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}} {{Infobox person | name = Jen Brister | birth_name = Jennifer Helen Brister | birth_date = {{birth date and age|1975|02|09|df=yes}} | birth_place = Kingston upon Thames, London, England | alma_mater = University of Middlesex | occupation = {{hlist|Comedian|writer|actor}} }}
'''Jennifer Helen Brister''' (born 9 February 1975) is a British stand-up comedian, writer and actor. She is known for her solo shows on the UK and international comedy circuit, her memoir ''The Other Mother'' (2019), and her television appearances on programmes such as ''Live at the Apollo'' and ''Mock the Week''.<ref> {{cite web |last= |first= |date=12 August 2002 |title=Cutting Edge Of Comedy - competition review |url=http://www.metro.co.uk/home/article.html?in_article_id=2455&in_page_id=1 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120923163834/http://www.metro.co.uk/home/2455-cutting-edge-of-comedy-competition-review |archive-date=2012-09-23 |accessdate= |work=Metro.co.uk}} </ref>
==Life and career==
===Early life=== Brister was born in Kingston upon Thames, Greater London, in 1975 to a British father and a Spanish mother. She has three brothers.<ref>{{cite web |last=Paskett |first=Zoe |date=2018-12-05 |title=Jen Brister interview: 'I was strangling my career, but I don't give a f*** anymore' |url=https://www.standard.co.uk/go/london/arts/jen-brister-interview-meaningless-soho-theatre-comedy-a4008261.html |accessdate=2019-05-28 |work=Evening Standard}}</ref> Brister was raised as a Catholic<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.jenbrister.co.uk/the-other-mother-13/|title=Wracked with guilt. Kind of.|work=jenbrister.co.uk|accessdate=2019-05-28|archive-date=28 May 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190528124131/http://www.jenbrister.co.uk/the-other-mother-13/|url-status=dead}}</ref> and went to all girls' Ursuline High School, Wimbledon.<ref>{{cite web |last=Burns |first=James |date=2012-08-06 |title=Review: Jen Brister, Now and Then |url=https://funnywomen.com/2012/08/06/review-jen-brister-now-and-then/ |accessdate=2023-07-04 |work=funnywomen.com}}</ref> She then went on to Richmond College.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://backyardcomedyclub.co.uk/comedians/jen-brister/|title=Jen Brister| work=backyardcomedyclub.co.uk|date=13 December 2013|accessdate=2019-05-28}}</ref> Her Spanish-born mother is a frequent topic of her comedy routines.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Chamberlain |first1=Julia |last2=Bennett |first2=Steve |date=2006-01-01 |title=Jen Brister: Me, My Mum & I |url=https://www.chortle.co.uk/review/2006/01/01/34759/jen_brister%3A_me%2C_my_mum_%26amp%3B_i |access-date=2025-11-02 |work=chortle.co.uk}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2020/jun/03/jen-brister-meaningless-review-soho-theatre|title=Jen Brister: Meaningless review – a furiously funny blast of rage|first=Brian|last=Logan|date=3 June 2020|work=The Guardian|access-date=6 November 2024}}</ref>
===Stand-up career=== Brister studied drama at Middlesex University, London, where, in the mid-1990s, she took a course in stand-up comedy, the only one of its kind at the time in the UK. Other famous graduates include Alan Carr, Dan Renton Skinner of the Dutch Elm Conservatoire and ''Shooting Stars'', and Clare Warde of the Runaway Lovers. Brister's first gig was at the end of her third year at university in 1996,<ref>{{cite web|last=Hawkins|first=Si|url=https://www.comedy.co.uk/live/fgwg/jen_brister/|title=First Gig, Worst Gig - Jen Brister| work=comedy.co.uk|date=2018-11-08|accessdate=2019-05-28}}</ref> at the King's Head in Crouch End, London.
Brister has performed internationally, including appearances at the Melbourne Comedy Festival in 2011 and 2014, and at the Adelaide Festival in 2011 and 2012. She has also taken her solo shows to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe and continues to perform regularly in UK clubs such as The Comedy Store (London) and Up the Creek.<ref>{{cite web |title=Jen Brister - The Optimist |url=https://littlewander.co.uk/show/jen-brister-the-optimist// |accessdate=2023-04-09 |work=littlewander.co.uk}}</ref> She toured the UK for the first time in 2018 with her show ''Meaningless''. Since 2022 she has been touring the UK again with her show ''The Optimist''.
Her comedy hero is Victoria Wood.<ref>{{cite web|last=Donaldson|first=Brian|url=https://www.list.co.uk/article/104756-my-comedy-hero-jen-brister-on-victoria-wood/|title=My Comedy Hero: Jen Brister on Victoria Wood| work=list.co.uk|date=2018-10-26|accessdate=2019-05-28}}</ref>
In 2006, Brister appeared at the 2006 Edinburgh Festival Fringe with her first show ''Me, My Mum and I.''<ref>{{cite web|url=https://sgfringe.wordpress.com/2012/07/20/jen-brister-2/|title=Jen Brister| work=sgfringe.wordpress.com|date=2012-07-20|accessdate=2019-05-28}}</ref> In ''Time Out'', March 2006, Jen stated "It's really an exploration of my relationship with my mum. It's an analysis, as well, of where I am at this point in my life. I'm 31. I'm single. I don't own a house. Or a car. I don't have kids. Or any solid financial security. At 31, my mother had three children and a fourth on the way. She was married and she had a mortgage."<ref>Hay, Malcolm (March 22, 2006). "Comedy - Mother's Day - Jen Brister" Time Out, p. 52.</ref>
In 2007–2008, Brister worked for BBC Radio 6 Music as a stand-in presenter, and in 2008 she took a show to Edinburgh Fringe Festival called ''Reception'' with her comedy partner at the time, Clare Warde. In 2009, Brister appeared at the Edinburgh Fringe, again doing a stand-up show as well as appearing in a play called ''The One and The Many'' by Trevor Lock. In 2011, Brister took her second solo show ''British(ish)'' to Melbourne, Adelaide and Edinburgh festivals.
In 2012, Brister performed her third solo show ''Now and Then'' at the Adelaide and Edinburgh festivals, and in 2013, she performed a sell-out run at Soho Theatre, London. In 2014, Brister took her fourth show ''Wishful Thinking'' to the Free Fringe at Edinburgh, and performed it at Soho Theatre. In 2016, Brister performed her fifth show ''The Other One'' at the Camden Fringe comedy festival, and in 2017 she performed it at Soho Theatre.
In 2017, Brister performed at BBC Two's ''Live at The Apollo'', aired on 14 December 2017.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b09hdbff|title=BBC Two - Live at the Apollo, Series 13, Episode 3| work=bbc.co.uk|accessdate=2019-05-28}}</ref>
In 2018, Brister took her sixth show ''Meaningless'' to the Edinburgh festival, where she had a sell-out run. This was the first show she had toured around the UK.
She gave a TED talk at Brighton TEDx in 2018 titled "Changing the way we bring up our boys", addressing the cultural and gender norms taught to children.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2axmg3ee9gY |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211221/2axmg3ee9gY |archive-date=2021-12-21 |url-status=live|title=Changing the way we bring up our boys - Jen Brister - TEDxBrighton| work=youtube.com|date=7 March 2019 |accessdate=2019-05-28}}{{cbignore}}</ref>
Brister supported Frankie Boyle on his 2018 tour<ref>{{cite web|last=Matthews|first=Nammie|url=https://www.bn1magazine.co.uk/bn1-chats-to-jen-brister/|title=BN1 chats to… Jen Brister| work=bn1magazine.co.uk|date=2018-05-31|accessdate=2019-05-28}}</ref> and was a panellist on ''Frankie Boyle's New World Order'' on BBC Two in 2019.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.comedy.co.uk/tv/frankie_boyle_new_world_order/episodes/3/3/|title=Frankie Boyle's New World Order - Series 3, Episode 3| work=comedy.co.uk|accessdate=2019-05-28}}</ref> She was a panellist on BBC Radio 4's ''The News Quiz'' in September 2018 and May 2019.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006r9yq/episodes/guide|title=BBC Radio 4 - The News Quiz, Episodes| work=bbc.co.uk|accessdate=2019-05-28}}</ref> She is a regular guest on podcasts like ''The Guilty Feminist'', ''Global Pillage'' and ''Drunk Women Solving Crime''. She also does her own podcast together with comedian Maureen Younger.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://soundcloud.com/jen-brister|title=Jen Brister & Maureen Younger| work=soundcloud.com|accessdate=2019-05-28}}</ref>
Her 2019 Edinburgh show was called ''Under Privilege''.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://edinburghfestival.list.co.uk/event/1272125-jen-brister-under-privilege/|title=Jen Brister - Under Privilege| work=edinburghfestival.list.co.uk|accessdate=2019-05-28}}</ref>
In 2020 she was due to take her UK tour<ref>{{Citation|title=2020 Under Privilege UK Tour|url=http://www.jenbrister.co.uk/gigs/}}</ref> of ''Under Privilege'' to the Machynlleth Comedy Festival at The Tabernacle, Machynlleth.<ref>{{Citation|title=Machynlleth Comedy Festival 2020 - Under Privilege|url=https://machcomedyfest.co.uk/show/2020/jen-brister-under-privilege/}}</ref> In May 2020 Brister appeared on the TV panel show ''Who Said That?''.<ref>{{YouTube|19AN9jTta88|Who Said That? Episode 7 with James Acaster, Jen Brister, Fin Taylor and Esyllt Sears}}</ref>
In November 2021, Brister was a panellist on the BBC show ''Mock the Week''. In January 2022, Brister was a panellist on the BBC show ''QI''.
===Writing=== Brister is also a writer and has contributed to ''Diva'', ''g3'', ''Standard Issue'' magazine and ''The Huffington Post''. She has also written for BBC Scotland.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.jenbrister.co.uk/biography/|title=Biography| work=jenbrister.co.uk|accessdate=2019-05-28}}</ref>
In 2019, Brister published her memoir, ''The Other Mother: A Wickedly Honest Parenting Tale for Every Kind of Family'', through Penguin / Square Peg.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.penguin.co.uk/authors/1083345/jen-brister.html|title=Jen Brister, The Other Mother| work=penguin.co.uk|accessdate=2019-05-28}}</ref>
===Acting=== Brister's first role in a feature film was in the 2021 horror film ''Lair'', directed by Adam Ethan Crow.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt10342914/?ref_=nm_flmg_wr_2|title=Lair| work=imdb.com|accessdate=2019-05-28}}</ref>
==Personal life== Brister and her partner, Chloe Martin, have twin sons born in September 2014.<ref>{{cite tweet|user=JenBrister|number=514416623277867008|title=I really want to go but gf is having twins on Thursday so might be optimistic on my part....|first=Jen|last=Brister|accessdate=28 May 2019}}</ref> They live in Brighton.<ref>{{cite web|last=Gilson|first=Edwin|url=https://www.theargus.co.uk/leisure/stage/16263725.brighton-comedian-jen-brister-on-metoo-i-found-out-things-i-never-knew/|title=Brighton comedian Jen Brister on #MeToo: "I found out things I never knew"|work=The Argus|date=2018-06-01|accessdate=2019-05-28}}</ref>
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== <!-- per WP:ELMINOFFICIAL, choose one official website only --> * {{official website}} * {{IMDb name}} * [http://www.chortle.co.uk/comics/jbrister.html Jen Brister's listing at Chortle] * [http://www.ents24.com/web/artist/33810/Jen_Brister.html Jen Brister Tour dates and tickets] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070312202423/http://www.ents24.com/web/artist/33810/Jen_Brister.html |date=12 March 2007 }} * [https://web.archive.org/web/20070311022404/http://www.edfringe.com/shows/detail.php?action=shows&id=JENBR Jen Brister at Edinburgh Fringe Festival 2006] * [http://www.latitudefestival.co.uk/arenas/comedy.asp?id=238 Latitude Festival 2006]{{Dead link|date=March 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} Brister also appeared at the Latitude Festival 2006 & 2018 * [http://www.penguin.co.uk/authors/1083345/jen-brister.html Jen Brister at Penguin Books]
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Brister, Jen}} Category:1975 births Category:English people of Spanish descent Category:English stand-up comedians Category:English LGBTQ comedians Category:Living people Category:Actors from the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames Category:Actresses from Brighton Category:Alumni of Middlesex University Category:British women memoirists Category:21st-century English memoirists Category:English lesbian actresses Category:British lesbian comedians Category:British women comedians Category:LGBTQ people from London Category:Comedians from Brighton and Hove Category:Comedians from the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames Category:Actresses from London Category:People from Kingston upon Thames Category:Alumni of Richmond upon Thames College