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The queen of comedy tells Louise Cummings which celebs she’s got in her sights in her new live show.
Katy Brand
22/04/2010
cambridge-news.co.uk[/align]
THERE is nothing more sickening than smug celebrities flaunting their designer clothes, palatial homes, perfect children and rock solid marriages (erm . . . excluding Cheryl Cole, Toni Terry and Tiger Woods’ missus, of course). So thank the lord for anarchic comedian Katy Brand, who is surely the antidote to all this slosh, making a career out of merciless send-ups of celebrities who, let’s face it – damn well deserve it!
I’ve always admired this ballsy lady, and my respect reached new levels when she poured her ample curves into a skin-tight leotard and sheer tights to take on Beyonce’s booty-shaking track Single Ladies, on the final of BBC1’s Let’s Dance for Sport Relief. Despite her slick routine, Katy was pipped to the post by cross-dressing comedian Rufus Hound, whose truly hilarious and scarily life-like rendition of Cheryl Cole’s Fight For This Love won over the judges.
However, this fearless female was the winner in my eyes, so I couldn’t wait to catch up with her as she prepares to bring her riotous Big Ass Show to Cambridgeshire tonight.
“Hello, it’s Katy Brand here,” she says brightly, as I pick up the phone. Already, she’s one up on most celebrities, who usually either call you two hours later than they agreed or adopt a rather lacklustre interview-weary tone, at the thought of another tête-à-tête with the press. She’s in high spirits, sitting writing some new material for her tour, and obviously very excited at the prospect of bringing her various alter egos to life on stage. For those uninitiated in Katy’s slightly warped comedy world, her Big Ass Show is full to the brim with pop star skits and celebrity spoofs. Among the favourites to get the Brand treatment have been Kate “normal” Winslet (who spends her whole time trying to pretend she is “normal” by riding buses and getting out into the community) Lily Allen, Lady Ga Ga, Little Boots, Rihanna, Amy Winehouse and many more unfortunates.
Even the Queen doesn’t escape Katy’s anarchic streak, being portrayed as East End gangster, Her Maj. “I always love doing the Queen because it’s just funny looking like the Queen and then opening your mouth and sounding like Alan Sugar! That makes me laugh,” she chuckles. “I’m certain the Queen sits there with Philip watching the show, or if she has to go out to meet a soldier or something, she’ll Sky Plus it,” she says with mock conviction.
Oxford graduate Katy also has her own collection of outlandish comic creations such as Captain Rosie, decked head to toe in army combats, who presents a TV show in the style of her hero Ross Kemp, and tracksuit-clad Cheryl the Olympic teenager, who hasn’t a hope of qualifying, but makes up for her lack of skill with enthusiasm.
“They just tend to be based on things that are going on inside my own head, my own neuroses and things that annoy me about myself, then end up in really extreme versions in the show,” she explains. She is tight-lipped about the full line-up of celebs for her live show, although lets slip that one of her new characters could be feisty Jo Frost, of Supernanny fame, which should be a treat. With such a wide repertoire of celebrity characters, I wonder how exactly the queen of the lampoon picks her unsuspecting victims.
“I read all the gossip magazines – and there tends to always be a handful of celebrities banging on about something. Like when Lily Allen was marketing herself as a council estate kid when she actually went to one of the poshest schools in the country. So you sort of just want to say: “Er, no, you’re busted!’ I don’t think the A-listers should have it all their own way.”
So far, Katy’s comic parodies have been fairly well received, although Lily Allen was somewhat nonplussed with her portrayal. “I did have a slightly tense chat with Lily Allen once in a restaurant, but it was all right in the end and her mum gave me a nice hug!” she recalls. “Kate Moss really liked her one and Little Boots sent me a message on Twitter saying she liked hers too.”
But what the celebrities think is far less important to Katy than how she is perceived by the public, and winning the Best Female Newcomer at the British Comedy Awards in 2008 was the recognition she’d been craving. “That was lovely, it was like the elders of the tribe patting you on the back, saying: ‘Yes, child, go forth and prosper” or like the grown-ups in the room letting you know you’re all right.”
It’s been a busy time for Katy, having recently finished filming Nanny McPhee and the Big Bang with Emma Thompson, which she describes as “just incredible”. “I’d like to do some more feature films and some writing, I think. Working on Nanny McPhee was amazing as they just brought me carrot and ginger smoothies all day,” she laughs.
Whatever her movie aspirations, let’s hope that, for all our sakes, crazy Katy and her menagerie of comic characters continue, as what can be better than poking fun at celebrities? “It’s good to tease these people who are in danger of getting a little bit self-important. They deserve it!” she cackles. Celebrities, you have been warned.
