for Radio 4 and has appeared on various TV shows including Mock the Week, A League of Their Own, 8 Out of 10 Cats, Was It Something I Said?, Michael McIntyre's Comedy Roadshow and I Love My Country.

Flanagan was born on 7 October 1962 in Whitechapel, East London,[citation needed] and grew up in Bethnal Green.

[3] His father, Jim, who worked as a welder and latterly as a fish porter, came from County Donegal in Ulster, the northern province in Ireland.

][9] but decided not to pursue teaching as a career, later describing the experience as "the unhappiest year of my life ... everything that was wrong about the school system when I was young was still the same".

[16][17] Flanagan was a regular performer on Out to Lunch on Radio 2 in 2008,[18] and appeared on Michael McIntyre's Comedy Roadshow in 2009.

[27] In 2009, Flanagan's agent lodged a complaint with the Advertising Standards Authority claiming that a television commercial for directory enquiries service 118 118 was using his "out out" catchphrase and skit.

[19] The skit, performed on Michael McIntyre's Comedy Roadshow, is based on the idea that people have different levels of going out, with "out out" referring to a big night out.

[29] On 7 June 2013, he appeared on The Graham Norton Show alongside Dan Stevens, Hayden Panettiere, Robin Thicke and Pharrell Williams.

He was a team captain, alongside Frank Skinner on the BBC One comedy series I Love My Country, which is hosted by Gabby Logan.