Dom Joly all set for Raworths Harrogate Literary Festival

Voted as one of the top literary festivals in the UK by Harper’s Bazaar magazine, in just one week’s time on Thursday, July 2, the eclectic Raworths Harrogate Literature Festival begins for one long weekend of celebrity-packed events at the Crown Hotel.
Harrogate International Festivals - Dom Joly is appearing at Raworths Harrogate Literature Festival.Harrogate International Festivals - Dom Joly is appearing at Raworths Harrogate Literature Festival.
Harrogate International Festivals - Dom Joly is appearing at Raworths Harrogate Literature Festival.

From Thursday till Sunday, there’s a chance to dip into events with Michelle Mone, Bill Oddie, Noddy Holder, Dennis Skinner, Will Hutton, Edith Bowman, Richard and Judy, Matt Haig, Jenny Éclair, Louis de Bernieres, Sam Delaney, Sadie Jones, Joanne Harris – and Dom Joly.

Joly roared into our living rooms with Trigger Happy TV. The funny man’s 15 years in comedy is the topic of his memoir, Here Comes the Clown, packed with celebrity gossip and the ups, and downs of fame. Joly spends around half the year globetrotting, making travel shows for TV or writing about far-flung places for books and newspapers.

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“I hated the BBC,” he says. “I’m good at puncturing, kicking and having a pop at big organisations. By accepting a deal with them I became an insider and couldn’t ‘have a go’. I’m much happier when I’m outside all of that and hungry. It makes you sharper.”

Comedy didn’t come into his life until he was 30 (he’s now 47). Before that he studied politics, was briefly a diplomat, then a political journalist. His newspaper columns graze across subjects as disparate as the state of comedy and the death of the Amazonian rainforest. He’s also a Save The Children ambassador.

“Comedy is interesting, but it’s not what gets me up in the morning.”

Fans of the madcap world of Trigger Happy TV will be delighted to know that a new series has been commissioned by Channel 4.

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Dom Joly will be appearing at the Raworths Harrogate Literature Festival at the Crown Hotel at 8pm on Friday, July 3.

Box office: 01423 562 303 or book online at www.harrogateinternationalfestivals.com