Greg Davies awarded an honorary degree by Brunel University London

Greg Davies was presented with an honorary doctorate by Brunel University London at a graduation ceremony last week.

The Welsh comedian’s alma mater awarded him an honorary Doctor of Humanities for his “distinguished contribution to the field of media, entertainment and the arts.”

Described by the university as a “brilliant TV funnyman,” Davies has been well-known for hosting the show Taskmaster since 2015. But he is perhaps better known for his career in drama, having starred in hit shows like The Inbetweeners, Man Down, and all five series of Cuckoo – which earned him a BAFTA nomination.

Off the screen, two of his stand-up shows have been nominated for Edinburgh Comedy Awards, with his 2018 show being recorded and released as a Netflix Special.

Davies at his stand-up show You Magnificent Beast, which was turned into a Netflix special (credit: YouTube)

While his more-than-20-year career doing comedy of various forms is widely acknowledged, Davies was actually a drama teacher until age 33, having studied English and Drama at Brunel. 

Greg said when accepting his honorary degree last week: “I would like to sincerely thank Brunel University London for this honour. It’s wonderful for me to get a second degree that, frankly, involved about as much work as I put into my first degree – no work whatsoever. I sense that’s not the case for you people.”

He went on to address the new graduates at the ceremony: “The one thing that has stuck with me is that if you have an inkling, deep down, of where you want to put those energies of yours, if you sense somewhere within you that you know you might be able to do this.

“Don’t presume there’s someone better than you to do it, because that’s what I did. I presumed that there would be someone frankly with better hair than me to do comedy, or that was more confident than me. And so I didn’t do it. I put my energies elsewhere [as a drama teacher].

“So, for what it’s worth, my advice to you is, deep down, you’ll know where all those wonderful brains you’ve got should be applied. And you shouldn’t shy away from that. You should stay focused.”

“It’s been a real honour for me to get this. It’s been so wonderful seeing you all come up and get your honours to reflect all your wonderful, hard work. And I really, sincerely wish you all the best with your exciting lives, you lucky devils,” he said.

Feature image credit: Google Streetview

Related stories recommended by this writer:

• These are all the celebrities who have been awarded honorary degrees from UK universities

• The Sultan of Brunei, who stones gay people to death, has an honorary degree from King’s

• Introducing Dr. Stormzy: Everything that went down with Stormzy at Exeter graduation