Katy Brand

Brand was born in Buckinghamshire, England, in 1979, and enjoyed making people laugh with her impressions as a young child.{{cite web | last=Christie | first=Janet | title=Katy Brand on her debut novel and romcom musicals | website=The Scotsman | date=9 June 2014 | url=https://www.scotsman.com/arts-and-culture/katy-brand-her-debut-novel-and-romcom-musicals-1534644 | access-date=14 February 2021}}

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.{{cite news|url=https://www.standard.co.uk/goingout/comedy/is-katy-brand-the-new-catherine-tate-6637777.html|title=Is Katy Brand the new Catherine Tate?|last=Dessau|first=Bruce|date=19 October 2007|access-date=26 November 2013|publisher=Evening Standard|work=Evening Standard}}

Motivated to read theology at Keble College, Oxford,{{cite web

|url=http://women.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/women/celebrity/article4583016.ece |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110615190738/http://women.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/women/celebrity/article4583016.ece |url-status=dead |archive-date=15 June 2011 |title=People: Katy Brand; Anne Hathaway; Madonna|work=The Times |access-date=4 August 2009 |last=Sherwin |first=Adam |date = 22 August 2008}}{{cite news|title=Bright Lights at St James'|url=http://thebrick.keble.net/brick24/thebrick24.pdf|work=The Brick|date=2002|page=8|archive-date=23 February 2022|access-date=10 June 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220223060141/http://thebrick.keble.net/brick24/thebrick24.pdf|url-status=dead}} she then lost her religious beliefs while a student.[http://www.oxfordmail.co.uk/leisure/theatre/8176365.What_Katy_did/ "Stage: What Katy did"], Oxford Mail, 20 May 2010 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".

While at Oxford, she started to write and perform comedy, musicals and serious plays, joining the Oxford Revue and the university's dramatic society.

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

After graduation, Brand did not work as a performer, gaining employment in television production for five years instead, but her social encounters with university contemporaries ultimately convinced her to try working as a comedian.[http://www.peterboroughtoday.co.uk/what-s-on/leisure-lifestyle/comedy-katy-brand-at-the-cresset-1-389392 "Comedy: Katy Brand at The Cresset"], Peterborough Telegraph, 9 April 2010 In 2004 she wrote a comedy monologue, performing it in a few pubs in London before joining Ealing Live, a weekly live spot.

Brand established her name with her solo stand-up act at the Edinburgh Fringe in 2005.

In 2008, she collaborated with Katherine Parkinson, one of her friends from university,{{cite news|last=Harries|first=Rhiannon|title=How We Met: Katherine Parkinson & Katy Brand|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/how-we-met-katherine-parkinson--katy-brand-1842758.html|newspaper=The Independent|date=20 December 2009|access-date=18 October 2012}} on a BBC Radio 4 series called Mouth Trap.{{cite news|title=Space odyssey; ARTS - Radio|last=Chisholm|first=Kate |date=31 May 2008|work=The Spectator|page=54}}

Brand performed in Katy Brand's Big Ass Tour 2010.{{cite web|url=http://www.katybrandlaughs.com |title=Katy Brand's official website |publisher=Katybrandlaughs.com |access-date=8 July 2011}} 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)".{{YouTube|nAl4HTC7p7k|The Final - Katy Brand - Let's Dance for Sport Relief}} (14 March 2010, BBC One) 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.{{cite web | last=Porter | first=Alice | title=The Hoosiers ready 'longest pop song ever to be released in the UK' | website=MusicRadar | date=28 July 2010 | url=https://www.musicradar.com/news/guitars/the-hoosiers-ready-longest-pop-song-ever-to-be-released-in-the-uk-266403 | access-date=14 February 2021}}

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".{{cite web|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/teachers/offbyheart/speeches/midsummer_night_out_of_this_wood.shtml |title=Schools - Teachers - Off By Heart Shakespeare: A Midsummer Night's Dream "Out of this wood do not desire to go" |publisher=BBC |date=22 March 2011 |access-date=8 July 2011}}

In 2011 she guest-hosted a Children in Need special episode of Never Mind the Buzzcocks,{{IMDb title|2138753/|Never Mind the Buzzcocks: Children in Need Special}} and has participated in several other episodes of the show.{{cite web | title=Never Mind the Buzzcocks, Series 22, Episode 9 | website=BBC Two | url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00ftn43 | access-date=14 February 2021}}{{cite web | title=Never Mind the Buzzcocks, Series 24, Episode 3 | website=BBC Two | url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00vsr3k | access-date=14 February 2021}} 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.{{Cite episode | title=Christmas Special 2012: Strictly Come Dancing |series=Series 10: Episode 26 of 26|website= BBC One | url = http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01pkjn5 | access-date = 25 December 2012 | date = 25 December 2012 | series-no = 10 }}

Brand presented the Penguin Podcast for Penguin Books until February 2021,{{cite web | title=The Penguin Podcast on Acast | website=acast | url=https://play.acast.com/s/thepenguinpodcast/bestofthepenguinpodcast | access-date=14 February 2021}} which included interviews with authors such as Michael Morpurgo (War Horse), Markus Zusak (The Book Thief) and Gabourey Sidibe.

She published her debut novel, Brenda Monk is Funny, in 2014, a story about a woman trying to establish a career as a comedian. Her debut play, 3Women, starring Anita Dobson opened at Trafalgar Studios 2 in May 2018 and is published by Samuel French.{{Cite web|url=https://www.curtisbrown.co.uk/client/katy-brand|title=Curtis Brown| website=www.curtisbrown.co.uk|access-date=2019-06-14}} Her latest book, I Carried a Watermelon, was published by HarperCollins Publishers in October 2019.{{Cite web|url=https://www.waterstones.com/book/i-carried-a-watermelon/katy-brand/9780008352783|title=I Carried a Watermelon by Katy Brand {{!}} Waterstones|website=www.waterstones.com|language=en|access-date=2019-06-14}}

In March 2020, she took the role of Miss Hedge in the West End musical Everybody's Talking About Jamie.{{Cite web|url=https://www.everybodystalkingaboutjamie.co.uk/cast/katy-brand/|title=Katy Brand|website=Everybody's Talking About Jamie|language=en-GB|access-date=2020-03-19|archive-date=19 March 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200319172741/https://www.everybodystalkingaboutjamie.co.uk/cast/katy-brand/|url-status=dead}}

Brand wrote the 2021 comedy feature film Good Luck to You, Leo Grande, starring Emma Thompson and directed by Sophie Hyde.{{cite web | title=Good Luck To You, Leo Grande | website=Cornerstone Films | date=29 October 2012 | url=https://cornerstonefilm.com/film/good-luck-to-you-leo-grande/ | access-date=14 February 2021}}{{cite web | title=Sophie Hyde to direct Emma Thompson in UK sex comedy | website=IF Magazine | date=27 October 2020 | url=https://www.if.com.au/sophie-hyde-to-direct-emma-thompson-in-uk-sex-comedy/ | access-date=14 February 2021}}{{cite web | title=Emma Thompson to Star in Sophie Hyde's 'Good Luck to You, Leo Grande' | website=Variety | date=27 October 2020 | url=https://variety.com/2020/film/global/emma-thompson-sex-comedy-good-luck-to-you-leo-grande-sophie-hyde-1234816494/ | access-date=14 February 2021}}{{cite web | title=Emma Thompson set to star in Sophie Hyde's new feature, Good Luck to You Leo Grande | website=Closer Productions | date=27 October 2020 | url=http://closerproductions.com.au/news/archive/202010 | access-date=14 February 2021 | archive-date=23 February 2021 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210223113734/http://closerproductions.com.au/news/archive/202010 | url-status=dead }}

In 2008 she won "Best Female Newcomer" in the 2008 British Comedy Awards.{{cite web |url=http://www.britishcomedyawards.com/pastwinners08.html |title=British Comedy Awards |publisher=www.britishcomedyawards.com |access-date=18 April 2010 |archive-date=4 March 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304061116/http://www.britishcomedyawards.com/pastwinners08.html |url-status=dead }} 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.{{cite web|url=https://deadline.com/2022/11/british-independent-film-awards-aftersun-blue-jean-lead-nominations-1235163320/|title=British Independent Film Awards: 'Aftersun,' 'Blue Jean' & 'The Wonder' Lead Nominations|website=Deadline|first=Zac|last=Ntim|date=4 November 2022|accessdate=4 November 2022}}

{{Reflist|2}}

• [http://www.katybrandofficial.com/ Official Katy Brand Website]
• {{IMDb name|1113539}}

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Brand, Katy}}

Category:1979 births

Category:Living people

Category:Alumni of Keble College, Oxford

Category:English film actresses

Category:English impressionists (entertainers)

Category:English radio actresses

Category:English television actresses

Category:English television writers

Category:English voice actresses

Category:English women comedians

Category:People educated at St. Clement Danes School

Category:English female screenwriters

Category:English women television writers

Category:Actresses from Buckinghamshire

Category:Comedians from Buckinghamshire