Jack
Jack has experienced a number of losses, including his dad in 2008, his nan in 2014 and a close friend in 2015.
After his dad died, Jack took his comedy show Good Grief to the Edinburgh Fringe and wrote the comedy TV series Big Boys.
In 2026, he brought Good Grief back for a retrospective tour, marking ten years since its debut.
“When writing is going badly, I become like a sickly Victorian child taking myself off to convalesce in bed and refusing to speak to anyone. Basically, I'm a bit of a brat.
But when writing is going well, I love it. I'm desperate to show anyone I'm collaborating with to just get more jokes in. I've even sent drafts to actors to get their feedback and steer on where their characters could be going.
I always wanted to create and make stuff. I was quite content using whatever tools I had at my disposal, even if it was a bit scrappy or cheap or cut and paste.
So many young writers - especially nowadays - come from quite privileged backgrounds.
Some of them make brilliant, funny, wonderful stuff. And then some are just entitled and out of touch and make me cringe.
I just always wanted my stuff to feel relatable and not too artsy or inaccessible. I’m a big Royle Family fan and that’s definitely fed into my writing.
I feel like when you have some self awareness and bring some reality into your work, it helps people connect with it.
It's a dream come true to write a BAFTA-winning show. I don't ever take that for granted.
But I feel a big responsibility making work exploring themes like grief and suicide. Sometimes I have to take a step back from constantly having conversations about it.
A girl once came up to me in a club and started talking to me about suicide. It's an awful quandary where I know she's really in pain and needs someone to talk to, but at the same time we're on a dancefloor listening to Addison Rae and I'm with all my mates trying to have fun.
“I really let myself feel that grief.
I feel so grateful that they inspired me to do what I do now”
So I just try to point people in the direction of sharing their stories where they can get proper support. Organisations like CALM are crucial for reminding vulnerable people that waiting it out and getting help is always the best decision you can make. I think their CARE kit – a course which helps build skills to support people in crisis – is the best resource they’ve ever put out.
I'm not a therapist; I don't have the bandwidth to really get into it. But at the same time, I'm incredibly honoured when people relate to my writing and do reach out.
I just have to be a bit boundaried.
Dad’s death still has a huge impact on my life. Every day I wake up and go about my life and miss him awfully.
But I also cherish missing him because, in a way, that's symbolic of what love is really supposed to be. And grief is love in many ways.
I miss my nan too, but I love seeing her in all the videos every time I’m sat on stage doing Good Grief and I get to watch her being wonderful.
With my dad and my nan, I miss them all the time and I really let myself feel that grief. I feel so grateful that they inspired me to do what I do now.
Big Boys is definitely only semi-autobiographical. I would have found it too painful to write the complete truth. I always tread carefully talking about the friends and circumstances that inspired Danny’s character because that grief just is more painful.
It's painful enough even fictionalising it, let alone trying to put it out in the world of television. Everyone's a critic and not everybody involved in making your show has a duty of care towards you.
At the minute, I'm writing some pilots and doing some live comedy again with the Good Grief tour.
Soon though, I’d like to write something completely different like the history of crisp packets or the Spice Girls or something.
I've enjoyed trying to blend humour with more emotional subjects. When I was in my early 20s, I felt like grief wasn't spoken about in a realistic way. It was all trauma porn and nothing funny.
I’ve learnt that everything doesn’t always have to be so heavy. There’s definitely light and shade to being bereaved.”