On my radar: Mo Gilligan’s cultural highlights
Born in south London in 1988, the comedian and TV presenter Mo Gilligan started doing standup aged 19 and attracted wider attention with a series of viral sketches on YouTube. That landed him a co-hosting gig on The Big Narstie Show on Channel 4, followed by The Lateish Show With Mo Gilligan, for which he won Baftas in 2020 and 2022. He has also appeared as a judge on The Masked Singer UK. Gilligan, who lives in London, has just launched a podcast called Beginning, Middle and End, and he is currently touring the UK.
1. Book
Track Record: Me, Music and the War on Blackness by George the Poet
I started reading this on tour and I felt like it was speaking directly to me. It’s about black creativity and the forces that limit it. George gives his perspective on what blackness is and describes how black people are telling their stories through grime and drill music. He explains the music really wonderfully so that people who don’t know much about it will get what he’s talking about. I’ll be honest, I don’t read many books, but this one made me feel smart, empowered and strong.
2. TV
There are loads of superhero shows and movies, but to see one that connects so closely with my community is amazing. With Supacell, I was like, Wow, I’m looking at Peckham High Street, I grew up there, and there are people flying around and doing telekinesis! It’s about ordinary black Londoners who start to realise they have superpowers, and they have them because of sickle cell disease. Sci-fi is very hard to execute in a way that feels real and attainable but this show pulled it off. I wish I could have seen it when I was 14.
3. Film
American Fiction (dir Cord Jefferson, 2023)
I went to see this film on a whim and it really stuck with me. It’s about a black man writing very intellectual books that aren’t really selling. Then he’s provoked into writing a book under a pseudonym that’s full of black stereotypes and it becomes a huge success. Everyone thinks he’s lived the gangster life it depicts. It’s a really fun film but it’s also got some deep moments and it gave me a lot of ideas for writing. I’ve been telling people to go see it ever since.
4. Live podcast
ShxtsNGigs at the O2 Arena, London
ShxtsNGigs is a podcast where two guys who met at uni in Coventry play games and talk about relationship dilemmas. It really encapsulates what I think “black boy joy” is – young black men being unapologetically themselves. When I heard they were doing a live show at the O2, I have to admit I was sceptical – would a podcast work in a space that big? But it was amazing. From the entrance, it was like watching big-time musicians with all the pyrotechnics, and then during the show you could hear a pin drop.
5. Sport
I know we didn’t win the Euros for the second time running, but it’s really nice when everyone comes together for the love of football. I’ve got friends who never watch the game and they were talking about Gareth Southgate’s tactics. Even my mum was interested. When the final happened, I was on tour in Australia. I watched it at 5am in a 24-hour casino in Melbourne absolutely packed with fans. Even though we didn’t win, the fact that we scored and got to celebrate something felt huge. It was such a special moment.
6. Fashion
I’ve always been big into trainers – it’s been my thing ever since I was a kid. When you grow up in a council house, being able to afford them feels like you made it in life. The artist J2K, who used to be in the grime crew Roll Deep, has created his own sneaker brand called HYPHNT (pronounced “hyphenate”). I bought three pairs, including the City Walker in brown and cream. It’s nice to support brands that are black-owned. It made me feel as if I could do something similar one day.
Mo Gilligan: Beginning, Middle & End is available to listen to on Global Player, or wherever you get your podcasts, with new episodes dropping weekly
