Mo Gilligan - Fatherhood Is A Gift I Didn’t Know I Needed
How To Fail With Elizabeth Day
Respecting the Audience and Crowdwork Choices
Mo discusses why he avoids aggressive crowd-poking and prefers to make audience members feel cool and included.
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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Podcast Instagram: @howtofailpod
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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