Katy Brand

Katy Brand started writing and performing from a young age and joined the Oxford University Drama Society and Oxford Revue while studying at University. Her first professional comedy performances were at the Ealing Film Studios, Ealing Live!, and the Edinburgh Fringe, Celebrities are Gods. She went on to devise, and star in, her award-winning ITV sketch show Katy Brand’s Big Ass Show which ran for three series and later became a nationwide tour.  She won a British Comedy Award for the show in 2008 and was also nominated for an RTS Award. During this time, she also co-wrote and performed in Mouthtrap with Katherine Parkinson which ran for two series on BBC Radio 4.

Her writing work includes developing scripts for Scott Free, Vertigo Films and Fudge Park for the film The Festival. She has also written for and appeared in numerous radio and TV shows, from BBC Radio 4’s News Quiz to Channel 4’s Peep Show.

Her acting credits cover a wide array of TV, Film and Radio shows, alongside regular live work. These include Nanny McPhee and the Big Bang, Peep Show, Grandpa’s Great Escape, Annually Retentive, Mongrels and Psychobitches. Her musical theatre credits include Everybody's Talking About Jamie (Apollo).

In 2016, Katy took her first stand-up comedy show I Was A Teenage Christian to the Edinburgh Fringe and later toured with it nationwide. She returned to the Fringe in 2017 with the follow-up show, I Could’ve Been An Astronaut.Her debut play 3Women starring Anita Dobson opened at Trafalgar Studios 2 in May 2018 and is published by Samuel French.Her debut novel Brenda Monk Is Funny was published by Unbound in 2014 and her new book I Carried A Watermelon, part memoir-part homage to Dirty Dancing was published by HQ Harper Collins in October 2019. Katy presents The Origin of Stuff on BBC Radio 4, a show which looks at the history, science and design behind everyday objects, and hosts the Penguin Podcast where she interviews leading authors about their latest book.