Katy Brand

Katherine Frances Brand (born 1979) is an English actress, comedian and writer, known for her ITV2 series Katy Brand's Big Ass Show[1][2] and for Comedy Lab Slap on Channel 4.

Katy Brand
Brand hosts the 2017 Freedom of Expression Awards
Born
Katherine Frances Brand

1979 (age 41–42) England
Alma materKeble College, Oxford
OccupationActress, comedian, television writer
Years active2001–present
TelevisionBig Ass Show
Mongrels

Early life

Brand attended St Clement Danes School. Following a summer holiday at 13 with friends who were evangelical Christians she embraced their faith and attended church five times a week.[3]

Motivated to read theology at Keble College, Oxford,[4][5] she then lost her religious beliefs while a student.[6] Interviewed for the Evening Standard in 2007, she commented: "After about a year, I realised it was mostly rubbish and that things are never as simple as they seem when you are 13."[3]

Career

After graduation, Brand did not work as a performer, gaining employment in television production instead, but her social encounters with university contemporaries ultimately convinced her to try working as a comedian.[7]

In 2008, she collaborated with Katherine Parkinson, one of her friends from university,[8] on a BBC Radio 4 series called Mouth Trap.[9]

Brand performed in Katy Brand's Big Ass Tour 2010.[10] She also competed on Let's Dance for Sport Relief in 2010, in which she danced to Beyoncé's "Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)". Also in 2010, she made a guest appearance on the song "Stop Giving Me Verses" by The Hoosiers, which was an attempt to break the world record for longest single ever released.

In 2011, Brand took part in the BBC Learning project "Off By Heart Shakespeare", where she played the role of Titania from A Midsummer Night’s Dream and delivered a performance of the speech "Out of this wood do not desire to go".[11]

In 2011 she also guest hosted a Children in Need special episode of Never Mind the Buzzcocks. In December 2012 she participated in the 2012 Christmas Special of the dance show, Strictly Come Dancing. Her partner was Anton du Beke; they came second to last.[12]

Katy currently presents the Penguin Podcast for Penguin Books, recently interviewing authors such as Sir Michael Morpurgo (War Horse), Markus Zusak (The Book Thief) and Gabourey Sidibe. Katy published her debut novel Brenda Monk is Funny in 2014. Her debut play 3Women starring Anita Dobson opened at Trafalgar Studios 2 in May 2018 and is published by Samuel French.[13] Her latest book I Carried a Watermelon was published by HaperCollins Publishers in October 2019.[14]

In March 2020, she took the role of Miss Hedge in the West End musical Everybody’s Talking About Jamie.[15]

Awards

In 2008 she won "Best Female Newcomer" in the 2008 British Comedy Awards.[16] and was also nominated for a Royal Television Society Award the same year.

Filmography
Year Project Role Notes
2006 Comedy Lab: Slap (TV) Channel 4
Tittybangbang (TV) Various BBC Three
Hyperdrive (TV) Alien 2 BBC Two
Casualty (TV) Jill Grainger BBC One
Comedy Cuts (TV) Various ITV2
Under One Roof (TV) Various Writer, alongside James Bachman
Touch Me, I'm Karen Taylor Various BBC Three
2007 Peep Show (TV) Lucy Channel 4
Katy Brand's Big Ass Show (TV) Various ITV2
Rob Brydon's Annually Retentive Debbie BBC Three
2008 Headcases (TV) Various ITV
Placebo (TV) BBC Three
2009 Good Arrows Big Sheila
2010 Nanny McPhee and the Big Bang Miss Turvey
Let's Dance for Sport Relief (TV) Herself Danced to "Single Ladies" by Beyoncé
Argumental (TV) Herself Dave (TV Channel)
The Bubble (TV) Herself BBC Two
Mongrels (TV) Kali BBC Three
Katy Brand vs...[17] Herself ITV2
Never Mind the Buzzcocks (TV) Herself BBC Two
Ask Rhod Gilbert (TV) Herself BBC One
2011 Alexander Armstrong's Big Ask Herself Dave
2014 Walking on Sunshine[18] Lil Vertigo Films
2015 Mapp and Lucia (TV) Hermione Pillson BBC One
2016 Hank Zipzer (TV) Kathleen Murray CBBC, one episode "Zipzers and Aliens"
2019 Midsomer Murders (TV) Jemima Starling ITV, one episode "The Miniature Murders "

References
  1. TVGuide. "Katy Brand's Big Ass Show at ITV". Tvguide.co.uk. Retrieved 8 July 2011.
  2. Shelley, Jim (September 2008). "Mirror article". Mirror article. Retrieved 8 July 2011.
  3. Dessau, Bruce (19 October 2007). "Is Katy Brand the new Catherine Tate?". Evening Standard. Evening Standard. Retrieved 26 November 2013.
  4. Sherwin, Adam (22 August 2008). "People: Katy Brand; Anne Hathaway; Madonna". The Times. Retrieved 4 August 2009.
  5. "Bright Lights at St James'" (PDF). The Brick. 2002. p. 8.
  6. "Stage: What Katy did", Oxford Mail, 20 May 2010
  7. "Comedy: Katy Brand at The Cresset", Peterborough Telegraph, 9 April 2010
  8. Harries, Rhiannon (20 December 2009). "How We Met: Katherine Parkinson & Katy Brand". The Independent. Retrieved 18 October 2012.
  9. Chisholm, Kate (31 May 2008). "Space odyssey; ARTS - Radio". The Spectator. p. 54.
  10. "Katy Brand's official website". Katybrandlaughs.com. Retrieved 8 July 2011.
  11. "Schools - Teachers - Off By Heart Shakespeare: A Midsummer Night's Dream "Out of this wood do not desire to go"". BBC. 22 March 2011. Retrieved 8 July 2011.
  12. "Strictly Come Dancing". Series 10. 25 December 2012. Retrieved 25 December 2012. Missing or empty |series= (help)
  13. "Curtis Brown". www.curtisbrown.co.uk. Retrieved 14 June 2019.
  14. "I Carried a Watermelon by Katy Brand | Waterstones". www.waterstones.com. Retrieved 14 June 2019.
  15. "Katy Brand". Everybody's Talking About Jamie. Retrieved 19 March 2020.
  16. "British Comedy Awards". www.britishcomedyawards.com. Retrieved 18 April 2010.
  17. "Katy Brand vs". Itv.com. Retrieved 8 July 2011.
  18. "WALKING ON SUNSHINE (12A)". Vertigo Films. British Board of Film Classification. 14 April 2014. Retrieved 25 June 2014.
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