Katy Brand is one of those annoyingly talented people who excels at various different styles of comedy. She has done sketches, characters and in recent years has become more of a storyteller, keeping an audience hooked with anecdotes. Last year Brand returned to the Edinburgh Fringe with the frank and funny autobiographical tale of how she became a teenage Christian. This year's show is more about what she might have been rather than what she was. In I Could've Been an Astronaut Brand explores her love of astronomy and her crapness at maths. Oh and for those that think the comedy is riddled with nepotism she is not Jo Brand's daughter or Russell Brand's wife.
Katy Brand: I Could've Been an Astronaut is at the Pleasance Courtyard from August 2 - 26. Tickets here.
1. What is the last thing you do before you go onstage (apart from check your flies and/or check your knickers aren't sticking out of your skirt and check for spinach between your teeth)?
Jump up and down on the spot twice, whisper ‘what the fuck am I doing?’ and then tell myself to ‘just enjoy it’.
2. What irritates you?
A lot of things irritate me – people who get off the escalator and immediately stop walking, people who don’t have their ticket ready at the barrier, people who tell you what they’re like (‘I’m very laid back’ – yeah, well, I’ll be the judge of that…) I mean, I could go on but I’d start to irritate myself.
3. What is the most dangerous thing you have ever done?
I went trekking with an ex-boyfriend in remote Pakistan – we had no guide, no map, no food and no water, we hadn’t told anyone where we were going, we got hopelessly lost, climbed up a glacier and then crossed a huge rushing river 100 feet up on a half-broken and very flimsy wooden rope bridge. It was like a bad reality TV show but without the cameras. Or the money. When we got back to the guest house eleven hours later, the local people were actually preparing a search party. I vomited and had to lie down in a dark quiet room. We could have died, without a doubt. And no-one would ever have found us.
4. What is the most stupid thing you have ever done?
See above.
5. What has surprised you the most during your career in comedy?
That if you try to create something new, honest and sincere, people will give you a fair hearing, almost no matter what. It’s a very innovative and self-driven industry, and people will respect you if you just keep getting yourself out there and doing the work. It’s like a supportive community of otherwise somewhat isolated individuals. A paradox maybe, but I like it.
Interview continues here.
