Danny Wallace

Daniel Frederick Wallace (born 16 November 1976) is a Scottish filmmaker, comedian, writer, actor, and presenter of radio and television.

His notable works include the books Join Me and Yes Man, narrating Thomas Was Alone and as Shaun Hastings for the Assassin's Creed game series, and fronting TV series How to Start Your Own Country.

Wallace was born in Dundee, Scotland.

He is half Swiss.

He attended Park Place Primary School, also growing up in Loughborough and Bath, England.

He began writing reviews for video game magazines aged 13 for school work experience: a reviewer had become ill and so Wallace was given the opportunity to review a game.

At 18 he started writing comedy, mainly through the magazine Comedy Review.

He specialised in media studies at the University of Westminster.

At 22, he became a BBC producer.

He was part of the production team behind British Comedy Award-winning Dead Ringers, the original producer of the critically acclaimed cult hit The Mighty Boosh, and creator and producer of Ross Noble Goes Global.

As a journalist, Wallace has worked for The Scotsman, The Guardian, The Independent, Elle, Cosmo, The Times and other publications.

Danny's first book was published in 1999, titled 'Are You Dave Gorman?'

In 1999, Wallace challenged comedian Dave Gorman, who at the time was his flatmate, to find 54 other people called Dave Gorman ("one for every card in the pack, including the Jokers").

Wallace accompanied Gorman on his quest and the men created Are You Dave Gorman?, an award-winning comedy stage show about what happened during their journey.

A BBC series, also co-written and co-produced by Wallace, followed, as did a book, written by both men.

In 2003, Wallace's book Join Me was published.

The book explains how he "accidentally started a 'cult'" called Join Me.

The movement would go global, with each member committing to undertaking one random act of kindness for a stranger every Friday ("Good Fridays").

Tens of thousands joined.

Wallace's second solo book, Yes Man, was published in July 2005.

In it, he describes how he spent six months "saying Yes where once I would have said No", to make his life more interesting and positive.

In this book he shows the tribulations and mischief that he got up to while he said yes to any question or proposal.

The book was described as "one of those rare books that actually has the potential to change your life" by the San Francisco Bay Guardian and as "a fascinating book and a fascinating experiment" by David Letterman.

A film adaptation of Yes Man was developed with Warner Bros. and stars Jim Carrey and Zooey Deschanel.

From 2007, Wallace wrote a column in the free weekly magazine ShortList, circulation 520,000.

It was released on 19 December 2008 in the US and 26 December 2008 in the UK.

Wallace appeared on screen in a cameo in a bar scene in the last ten minutes of the film, holding a British pint glass.

The film made almost $100 million at the US Box Office.

The critical reception was mixed.

For example, when the DVD of Yes Man was released in April 2009, The Independent gave it two stars.

Join Me celebrates "Karmageddon 10" in December 2011.

Traditionally, hundreds of members travel to London for the meet-up and undertake good deeds for strangers, with Wallace present.

The movement is now generally referred to as the "Karma Army", although members are still typically "Joinees".

He became a minor celebrity in Belgium whilst on his quest for Joinees.

While on a book tour through America, Wallace was dubbed a "Generation X legend" by the Wisconsin State Journal.

Wallace next wrote a short book called Random Acts of Kindness: 365 Ways To Make the World A Better Place, with the help of submissions from Joinees.

It includes many humorous Random Acts of Kindness (RAoK) ideas, such as "Contradict Demeaning Graffiti", and "Make An Old Man Very Happy."

In June 2014 Wallace was awarded an honorary degree from the University of Dundee, in the city where he was born.

Politically, Wallace is a supporter of the UK Labour Party.

As an author, Wallace's best-selling books have been translated into more than a dozen languages.