Mo Gilligan - Fatherhood Is A Gift I Didn’t Know I Needed
How To Fail With Elizabeth Day
Selling Yourself: Retail Lessons for Stagecraft
Mo explains how retail taught charisma, transparency and small gestures that shaped his stand-up performance.
Mo Gilligan started out working in retail (think Jo Malone and Levi’s) but quit in 2018 when his online comedy videos went viral. The leap paid off - sell-out tours across the UK, a late-night entertainment show on Channel 4 and his own breakout format The Lateish Show with Mo Gilligan, which earned him the first of three BAFTA wins. Netflix specials, world tours, primetime TV and a podcast soon followed.
Now in 2026, Gilligan is launching the biggest year of his career to date with a global tour, a major new partnership with Netflix and a feature documentary which will offer a glimpse behind the scenes of the 37-year-old at the top of his game.
In this episode, Mo opens up about being a dad to his six-month-old daughter and two-year-old son, the pressure of representing the Black British community in stand-up and the debt that shadowed him for years.
✨ IN THIS EPISODE:
00:00 Introduction
03:51 Retail Experience and Its Influence
06:11 Audience Interaction and Respect
09:13 School Struggles and Dyslexia
18:14 Family, Fatherhood and Financial Lessons
25:19 The Standup Struggle
26:37 Credit Card Chaos
31:12 The Viral Breakthrough
33:35 Touring Triumphs and Tribulations
36:04 Code Switching and Representation
39:43 Handling Success and Praise
45:51 Family and Future Plans
💬 QUOTES TO REMEMBER:
I really wanna make people feel cool. I think it’s the nicest feeling ever.
Knowing that I am my children’s universe... That is such a gift that I didn’t know I needed to have.
I find it hard to listen to praise about myself. I find it very, very hard... I'm always trying to move on to the next one.
🔗 LINKS + MENTIONS:
Get Mo’s tour tickets here: mogilligan.com/mo-live
Mo’s new Netflix show is available to watch now: Mo Gilligan - In the Moment
Join the How To Fail community: https://howtofail.supportingcast.fm/#content
Elizabeth’s Substack: https://theelizabethday.substack.com/
📚 WANT MORE?
Ashley Walters - on growing up fast, struggling with self-destruction and how accountability, therapy and fatherhood helped him rebuild his life and career. Fun fact: Ashley and Mo both went to the same school and had the same inspirational drama teacher! swap.fm/l/ksDRiLDV1iOXHRTTsdJ5
Miranda Hart - on public embarrassment, private anxiety and chronic illness. Plus: how learning to accept herself became her greatest success swap.fm/l/oTScN30b80GflJtO4rgu
Fern Brady - another stand-up who has experienced the precariousness of the industry and battled debt early in her working life swap.fm/l/cmeompBv7EHK20enmwbS
💌 LOVE THIS EPISODE?
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Website: www.elizabethday.org
Elizabeth and Mo answer listener questions in our subscriber series, Failing with Friends. Join our community of subscribers here: https://howtofail.supportingcast.fm/#content
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Production & Post Production Coordinator: Eric Ryan
Engineer: Matias Torres
Assistant Producer: Shania Manderson
Senior Producer: Hannah Talbot
Executive Producer: Alex Lawless
How to Fail is an Elizabeth Day and Sony Music Entertainment Production.
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