Jake O'Kane

Jake O’Kane (born 12 March 1961^[1]) is a Belfast-based stand-up comedian, and a resident compère of the Northern Ireland comedy club, "The Empire Laughs Back" at The Empire Music Hall in Belfast.^[2]

Jake O'Kane
Born	(1961-03-12) 12 March 1961 (age 63) Belfast, Northern Ireland
Occupation(s)	Comedian, Columnist, Businessman
Known for	The Blame Game
Children	2

O'Kane has toured on the comedy circuit,^[3] and has also appeared at clubs including The Stand, Jongleurs and The Comedy Store.^{[citation needed]}

He hosted and performed on the BBC Northern Ireland stand up television show One Night Stand,^[4] and was a resident panellist on the show The Blame Game on both TV and radio from 2005 to 2021.^[5][6]

In addition to his comedy, O'Kane also runs an off licence shop in North Belfast.^[7]

Personal life

O'Kane lives in North Belfast with his wife and 2 children. He was a champion power-lifter in his youth. O'Kane suffers from coeliac disease and is teetotal.^[7] His father, Jim O'Kane, was a Republican Labour councillor on Belfast City Council and was interned in 1971 as part of Operation Demetrius.^[8]

Filmography

Television

	Title	Role	Channel
2005-2021	The Blame Game	Resident Panelist	BBC NI
	Give My Head Peace	Guest Performer	BBC NI
	One Night Stand	Host and Stand-up Performer	BBC NI
	Festival Nights	Guest Contributor	BBC NI
	The John Daly Show	Writer and Performer	BBC NI
	McKeever	Writer	UTV
	The Empire Laughs Back	Stand-up Performer	BBC NI
	The Empire Laughs Back II	Stand-up Performer	BBC NI
	Comic Relief	Stand-up Performer	BBC NI
	The Kelly Show	Writer and Performer	UTV

Radio

Year	Title	Role	Channel
2005-2021	The Blame Game	Resident Panelist	BBC Radio Ulster
	Festival Review	Contributor	BBC Radio Ulster
	Between the Lines	Contributor and Performer	RTÉ Radio
	Saturday View	Contributor and Performer	RTÉ Radio
	The John Daly Show	Contributor and Performer	Downtown Radio

References

1. Jake O'Kane [@JakeOKane] (12 March 2022). "1. Sixty-one years ago today, in 1961, I was born less than 3m from where I'm standing. I've spent my life with Cavehill in my eye line and am blessed to now live on its banks. This hill is my gym, my therapist, my place of worship" (Tweet). Retrieved 12 March 2022 – via Twitter.
2. "Empire Laughs Back Comedy Club". Empire.
3. . Lyric Theatre (Belfast). Archived from the original on 23 November 2014. Retrieved 24 November 2014.
4. "Jake O'Kane To Perform As Part Of St. Patrick's Day Celebrations". Down Arts Centre. Retrieved 24 November 2014.
5. McVeigh, Andrea (7 November 2008). "Standing up and taking the Blame". Belfast Telegraph. Retrieved 9 May 2022.
6. Young, Connla (20 February 2021). "Comedian Jake O'Kane has announced he is leaving The Blame Game". The Irish News. Retrieved 20 February 2021.
7. Bell, Gail (22 February 2017). "Funnyman and offie owner Jake O'Kane's a former champion weightlifter". The Irish News. Retrieved 20 February 2021.
8. O'Kane, Jake (14 August 2021). "Jake O'Kane: My dad was the only UK elected representative ever to be interned". The Irish News. Retrieved 12 March 2022.

External links

• Official website