Katy Brand

Katherine Frances Brand (born 13 January 1979), known as Katy Brand, is an English actress, comedian and writer, known for her ITV2 series Katy Brand's Big Ass Show and Comedy Lab Slap on Channel 4.

Early life and education Brand was born in Buckinghamshire, England, in 1979, and enjoyed making people laugh with her impressions as a young child.

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

Motivated to read theology at Keble College, Oxford, she then lost her religious beliefs while a student.

Career After graduation, Brand did not work as a performer, gaining employment in television production for five years instead, In 2004 she wrote a comedy monologue, performing it in a few pubs in London before joining Ealing Live, a weekly live spot. on a BBC Radio 4 series called Mouth Trap.

Brand performed in Katy Brand's Big Ass Tour 2010. 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 the 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".

In 2011 she guest-hosted a Children in Need special episode of Never Mind the Buzzcocks, and has participated in several other episodes of the show. 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.

Brand presented the Penguin Podcast for Penguin Books until February 2021, which included interviews with authors such as Michael Morpurgo (author of War Horse, amongst other famous young adult novels), Markus Zusak (author of The Book Thief) and Gabourey Sidibe. Her book about the film Dirty Dancing, entitled I Carried a Watermelon, was published by HarperCollins Publishers in October 2019. The following year saw her release the memoir Practically Perfect, about her love for Mary Poppins.

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

Brand wrote the 2021 comedy feature film Good Luck to You, Leo Grande, starring Emma Thompson and directed by Sophie Hyde.

Brand won Celebrity Mastermind in an edition broadcast in May 2021.

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

For Good Luck to You, Leo Grande, Brand was nominated for two British Independent Film Awards: Best Independent Film and Best Screenplay.

Filmography