‘It’s far too late for me to go to the gym every 10 minutes’: Jo Brand on ageing, raging, fitness and grief

The comedian turns 70 soon, and in her new book, she contemplates the years ahead. She explains why she loves a work in progress, the importance of anger in mourning, and how she gave up smoking – only to become a champion vaper

Had Jo Brand, who turns 70 next year, been spending a long time thinking about getting older? Had it become the subject that consumed her, and the reason why, now, she felt impelled to write a book about the vagaries of ageing? No, she says, laughing. She was simply asked if she’d like to do it.

Still, it encouraged introspection about what she wanted her future to look like. “Now’s the time, if you want things, to get them in place.