| Biography | Mark Dolan (born 17 March 1974) is an English comedian, writer, and television presenter.
Dolan was born in Camden, London. He attended the University of Edinburgh and performed in the acclaimed improvisational comedy troupe The Improverts.
Dolan is well known as the host of Channel 4 show Balls of Steel, which he presented from 2005 until the shows end in 2008. He is also the presenter of Channel 4 Radios satirical show The Weekly Show, which is now[when?] in its second series, and the TV documentary series The World's (Something) And Me, where he meets "the world's most extraordinary people", such as The World's Hairiest Person and The World's Strongest Child. This series has proved popular and has aired three seasons of documentaries. Dolan first came to the public's attention in 2002 after writing and performing in a Comedy Lab entitled The Richard Taylor Interviews.
In 2006, Dolan helped launch More4 as the host of The Last Word, a nightly topical discussion show. He has also fronted shows for E4, including its launch comedy series, Show Me The Funny, and provides his voice as presenter of a new series for Five called Urban Legends. Dolan is currently the presenter for Sky Movies' weekly movie-news show 35mm and Channel 4's The Mad Bad Ad Show.
On 16 February 2013, Dolan took part in the fifth series of Let's Dance for Comic Relief as member of "Destiny's Dad" alongside fellow stand up comedians Hal Cruttenden and Shaun Keaveny.
In 2015, Dolan co-hosted "If Katie Hopkins Ruled the World" with British reality TV personality Katie Hopkins.
Dolan started as a stand-up comedian in 2000, reaching the final of Channel 4's So You Think You're Funny competition in his first year of performing. He currently has a Saturday night residency at Sohos Amused Moose Comedy Club.
At the Edinburgh Festival Mark in 2006, Dolan performed his new one-man show Im Here To Help!, a format in which the audience submit their real problems at the start of the show, to be solved by Dolan, the rest of the audience, and his mother on the phone. Im Here To Help! premiered at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in 2007, at The Gilded Balloon.
With a background in radio, Dolan has stayed close to the medium in which his career began. Alongside the aforementioned C4 radio show, Dolan is a regular presenter on LBC radio and BBC London, as well as being a panellist on a wide variety of Radio 4 comedy shows including The Personality Test and the Jon Ronson Show.
Dolan has lent his voice to a range of television and radio programmes, including commercials. Dolan is currently developing I'm Here To Help! for TV, and recently finished the third series of Balls of Steel.
Dolan now presents a breakfast show on Fubar Radio, an uncensored radio station based in London. |