Sanderson Jones
{{Short description|British stand-up comedian, broadcaster and social entrepreneur}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Sanderson Jones
| birth_date = {{Birth year and age|1981}}
| birth_place =
| nationality = British
| citizenship =
| education =
| alma_mater =
| occupation = Comedian
Broadcaster
Social entrepreneur
| years_active = 2008–present
| organization = Sunday Assembly
| website = {{URL|http://sandersonjones.co}}
}}
Sanderson Jones (born 1981) is a British stand-up comedian, broadcaster and social entrepreneur based in London.{{cite news |last1=Boorstein |first1=Michelle |title=Nonbelievers take Sunday Assembly for a spin |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/non-believers-take-sunday-assembly-for-a-spin/2013/11/07/6a7935a8-47e9-11e3-a196-3544a03c2351_story.html |newspaper=The Washington Post |access-date=10 August 2021 |date=7 November 2013}} He co-founded Sunday Assembly, a worldwide movement of non-religious congregations, with Pippa Evans in 2013.{{cite web |last1=Pigott |first1=Robert |title=Doing church without God |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-24766314 |website=bbc.com |publisher=BBC |access-date=10 August 2021 |date=1 November 2013}} Jones was nominated for Malcolm Hardee Awards in 2011 and for Chortle Awards in 2012.{{cite web |title=Cunning stunts up for Edinburgh Fringe award |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-14631265 |website=www.bbc.com |publisher=BBC |access-date=10 August 2021 |date=23 August 2011}}{{cite web |title=Chortle Awards 2012 nominees announced |url=https://www.comedy.co.uk/live/news/761/chortle_awards_2012_nominees_announced/ |website=comedy.co.uk |publisher=British Comedy Guide |access-date=10 August 2021 |date=22 February 2012}}
Biography
Jones was born in 1981 in London. He started his professional comedy career in 2008. He is known for his conceptual performances, with the Skinny saying "Sanderson creates genres at the same rate other comedians write shows".{{cite web |last1=O'Leary |first1=Bernard |title=Sanderson Jones: "We will celebrate the hell out of life" |url=https://www.theskinny.co.uk/comedy/interviews/sanderson-jones-we-will-celebrate-the-hell-out-of-life |website=www.theskinny.co.uk |publisher=The Skinny |access-date=10 August 2021 |date=13 March 2013}} Between 2009 and 2011, Jones also worked as a film critic for The Lady, Britain's longest-running weekly women's magazine.{{cite web |last1=Milazzo |first1=Franco |title=Comedian Interview: Sanderson Jones |url=https://londonist.com/2011/06/comedian-interview-sanderson-jones |website=londonist.com |publisher=Londonist |access-date=10 August 2021 |date=13 June 2011}}
In 2010, Jones performed for the first time at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. His show Taking Liberties challenged the legal definition of art and received positive reviews from several newspapers including The Guardian.{{cite web |last1=Richardson |first1=Jay |title=Sanderson Jones offers us a picture of ourselves offended |url=https://www.theguardian.com/culture/theatreblog/2010/aug/16/sanderson-jones-taking-liberties |website=The Guardian |access-date=10 August 2021 |date=16 August 2010}} In April 2011, Jones took his show Taking Liberties to Melbourne International Comedy Festival where it received favourable reviews from The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald.{{cite web |last1=Richards |first1=Tim |title=Taking Liberties |url=https://www.theage.com.au/entertainment/comedy/taking-liberties-20110415-1dgzp.html |website=www.theage.com.au |publisher=The Age |access-date=10 August 2021 |date=15 April 2011}}
In August 2011, Jones created the show Comedy Sale where every single ticket was sold in person.{{cite web |last1=Northover |first1=Kylie |title=Pounding the pavement to peddle laughs - but not to just anyone |url=https://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/comedy/pounding-the-pavement-to-peddle-laughs--but-not-to-just-anyone-20120409-1wl76.html |website=www.smh.com.au |publisher=The Sydney Morning Herald |access-date=10 August 2021 |date=10 April 2012}} The show had a sold-out run and was one of the best-reviewed shows of the 2011 Edinburgh Festival Fringe.{{cite web |title=Edinburgh Fringe Festival 2011: Shows With Best Reviews |url=https://www.comedy.co.uk/fringe/2011/features/shows_with_best_reviews/ |website=www.comedy.co.uk |publisher=British Comedy Guide |access-date=10 August 2021 |date=5 September 2011}} In every show of Comedy Sale, Jones would research the audience and include their social media into the performance.{{cite web |last1=Morton |first1=Alasdair |title=Be very afraid of comedian Sanderson Jones and his new stand-up show Comedy Sale |url=https://www.tntmagazine.com/entertainment/interviews/be-very-afraid-of-comedian-sanderson-jones-and-his-new-stand-up-show-comedy-sale |website=www.tntmagazine.com |publisher=TNT |access-date=10 August 2021 |date=4 November 2012}} In October 2011, the show went to the Union Chapel, Islington where it played to 700 people, who he had all met previously.{{cite web |title=Sanderson Jones, the face-to-face funnyman |url=https://www.standard.co.uk/culture/comedy/sanderson-jones-the-facetoface-funnyman-6453563.html |website=www.standard.co.uk |publisher=Evening Standard |access-date=10 August 2021 |date=14 October 2011}} The show was nominated for a Malcolm Hardee Awards in 2011, and for a Chortle Award in 2012. In 2012, Jones took Comedy Sale to Australia where he played shows at the Adelaide Town Hall, The National Theatre, and the Sydney Opera House.{{cite web |last1=Ortberg |first1=Mallory |title=London's First Atheist Church Opens Tomorrow |url=https://gawker.com/5973377/londons-first-atheist-church-opens-tomorrow |website=gawker.com |publisher=Gawker |access-date=10 August 2021 |date=5 January 2013}}{{cite web |title=Sanderson Jones is an award-winning social entrepreneur |url=https://designmcr.com/artists/sanderson-jones |website=designmcr.com |publisher=Design Manchester |access-date=10 August 2021 |date=21 November 2019}} In January 2013, he was a part of Mark Watson’s 24 Hour Comedy Show for Comic Relief and broke the world record for the world's longest hug.{{cite web |last1=Thornley |first1=Andy |title=Epic Hug In St Pancras Breaks World Record |url=https://londonist.com/2012/01/epic-hug-in-st-pancras-breaks-world-record |website=londonist.com |publisher=Londonist |access-date=10 August 2021 |date=20 January 2012}}{{cite web |last1=Fresneda |first1=Carlos |title=El abrazo más largo del mundo |url=https://www.elmundo.es/elmundo/2012/01/21/internacional/1327150513.html |website=www.elmundo.e |publisher=El Mundo (Spain) |access-date=10 August 2021 |date=21 January 2012}}
In 2013, Jones co-founded Sunday Assembly with Pippa Evans.{{cite web |last1=Luhrmann |first1=T.M. |title=Religion Without God |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/25/opinion/religion-without-god.html |website=The New York Times |access-date=10 August 2021 |date=24 December 2014}} Sunday Assembly is a non-religious gathering headquartered in London, England.{{cite web |last1=Wheeler |first1=Brian |title=What happens at an atheist church? |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-21319945 |website=www.bbc.com |publisher=BBC |access-date=10 August 2021 |date=4 February 2013}} Sunday Assembly has been widely studied and spread rapidly with The Daily Beast calling it "the world's fastest growing church".{{cite news |last1=Hines |first1=Nico |title=Sunday Assembly Is the Hot New Atheist Church |url=https://www.thedailybeast.com/sunday-assembly-is-the-hot-new-atheist-church |newspaper=The Daily Beast |access-date=10 August 2021 |date=11 June 2017}} In 2015 researchers from Oxford University and Brunel University completed a 6-month longitudinal survey of Sunday Assembly participants, and found that attending was correlated to improved wellbeing in a significant way.{{cite journal |last1=Price |first1=Michael E.|last2=Launay |first2=Jacques |title=Increased Wellbeing from Social Interaction in a Secular Congregation |journal=Secularism and Nonreligion |date=8 August 2018 |volume=7 |issue=1 |page=6 |doi=10.5334/snr.102 |doi-access=free }}{{cite journal |last1=Charles |first1=Sarah J. |last2=van Mulukom |first2=Valerie |last3=Brown |first3=Jennifer E. |last4=Dunbar |first4=Robin I. M. |last5=Watts |first5=Fraser |last6=Farias |first6=Miguel |title=United on Sunday: The effects of secular rituals on social bonding and affect |journal=PLOS One |date=27 January 2021 |volume=16 |issue=1 |page=e0242546 |doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0242546 |pmid=33503054 |pmc=7840012|bibcode=2021PLoSO..1642546C |doi-access=free }} For his work on Sunday Assembly, Jones was elected to the Ashoka Fellowship which recognises leading social entrepreneurs with solutions to social problems who seek to make large-scale changes to society.{{cite web |title=Sanderson Jones - Ashoka Fellow |url=https://www.ashoka.org/en-gb/fellow/sanderson-jones |website=www.ashoka.org |publisher=Ashoka |access-date=10 August 2021}} He has also received awards and recognition from Nesta and UnLtd.{{cite web |title=TEDxBrighton - Speakers |publisher=TED (conference)|url=https://www.ted.com/tedx/events/24995 |website=www.ted.com |access-date=10 August 2021 |date=20 October 2017}}
In 2018 Jones left Sunday Assembly to develop the practice of Lifefulness, a secular and scientific approach that adapts the best parts of spiritual communities.{{cite web |last1=Geall |first1=Lauren |title=The psychology of singing: why music is the perfect antidote to coronavirus anxiety |url=https://www.stylist.co.uk/life/coronavirus-lockdown-singing-benefits-music-mental-health-psychology/371356 |website=www.stylist.co.uk |date=29 March 2020 |publisher=Stylist |access-date=10 August 2021}}
In September 2018, Jones wrote and presented Meet The Unbelievers & A History of Unbelief, a three-part series that investigated how unbelievers create meaning and belonging.{{cite web |title=Meet the Unbelievers & A History of Unbelief |url=https://research.kent.ac.uk/understandingunbelief/research/public-engagement-projects/meet-the-unbeleivers-a-history-of-unbelief/#:~:text=Meet%20the%20Unbelievers%20is%20a,yet%20deep%20and%20engaging%20way |website=research.kent.ac.uk |publisher=University of Kent |access-date=10 August 2021 |date=1 September 2018}} The show was produced by Dan Snow's History Hit and funded by Understanding Unbelief, the world's largest study of atheists and agnostics.{{cite web |last1=Lanman |first1=Jonathan |title=Atheists do not feel life is devoid of any meaning |url=https://www.issuesonline.co.uk/articles/atheists-do-not-feel-life-is-devoid-of-any-meaning |website=www.issuesonline.co.uk |publisher=Issues Online |access-date=10 August 2021}} In May 2020, Jones contributed to two BBC World Service programmes on community and prayer.{{cite web |title=Community: Heart and Soul Reflections on Faith in a Global Crisis |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/w3ct0t1d |website=www.bbc.co.uk |publisher=BBC |access-date=10 August 2021 |date=1 June 2020}}{{cite web |title=Prayer: Heart and Soul Reflections on Faith in a Global Crisis |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/w3ct0t25 |website=www.bbc.co.uk |publisher=BBC |access-date=10 August 2021 |date=8 June 2020}}
See also
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- [http://sandersonjones.co Official website]
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jones, Sanderson}}