Fern Brady
Born
Fern Marie Brady

(1986-05-26) 26 May 1986
Bathgate, West Lothian, Scotland
Occupations
  • Comedian
  • podcaster
  • writer
  • journalist
Years active2010–present
Websitefernbradycomedian.com

Fern Marie Brady (born 26 May 1986) is a Scottish comedian, podcaster, and writer. Before becoming a stand-up comedian Brady worked as a journalist. She achieved fame as a stand-up comedian by entering stand-up competitions such as at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. As a result of her success as a stand-up she was invited on to comedy panel shows such as 8 Out of 10 Cats. In 2020 she became a podcaster when she co-created a podcast entitled Wheel of Misfortune.

Brady was diagnosed as being on the autism spectrum in 2021, as an adult. She has been active within the field of autism education since learning of her diagnosis.[1] She has written how she has been dealing with the diagnosis in her 2023 memoir Strong Female Character.

Early life

Brady was born in Bathgate, West Lothian, where she grew up. She went to school at St. Kentigern's Academy, Blackburn in West Lothian. She is of Irish descent, has family roots in County Donegal, and grew up within the Catholic Church in Scotland.[2] Her father, Paul Brady, worked in management at the truck company Scania, and her mother worked at Tesco. Her parents have since divorced.[3]

Career

While at the University of Edinburgh, Brady was editor of The Student, a weekly newspaper produced by students. To finance her university studies, she worked as a stripper.[3] She graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Arabic and Islamic History. Following university, Brady originally trained to become a journalist, although she had been thinking about becoming a stand-up comedian since 2006.[4] In 2009, she was an intern at Fest Magazine, a free magazine covering the Edinburgh Festival. One of her assignments there was to write an article about a comedy critic trying stand-up.[5][6] Brady describes the experience as "the push I needed to realise it was what I wanted to do".[4] Her first professional gig was in May 2010.[4]

She reached the finals of "So You Think You're Funny" at the 2011 Edinburgh Festival Fringe, where she was placed joint third; the finals of the Piccadilly Comedy Club new act competition in 2012, and the Hackney Empire New Act of the Year in 2013. She has appeared on 8 Out of 10 Cats, Seann Walsh's Late Night Comedy Spectacular, The Alternative Comedy Experience, BBC Radio 4's The News Quiz, series 3 of Live from the BBC, series 14 of Live at the Apollo and on series 3 of Frankie Boyle's New World Order. She has written for The Guardian.[7]

In 2020, Brady and fellow comedian Alison Spittle started a podcast for the BBC called Wheel of Misfortune.

In late 2021, Brady co-presented the Dave travelogue British as Folk alongside fellow comedians Ivo Graham and Darren Harriott.[8] In January 2022, Brady began a 25-date tour of her new show, Autistic Bikini Queen.[9] In June 2022, Brady was confirmed to be a contestant in the 14th series of Taskmaster, which started airing in September 2022.[10]

In 2023, her memoir, Strong Female Character, was published by Brazen.[11][12][13] Brady won the non-fiction section of the 2023 Books Are My Bag Readers' Awards.[14]

Personal life

Brady is bisexual.[15] She was misdiagnosed with obsessive–compulsive disorder (OCD) at the age of 16,[16] and revealed in 2021 that she has been diagnosed as autistic.[17][18][19]

References

  1. ↑ "Comedian Fern Brady on anxiety and supporting Autistica". autistica.org.uk. Charity Commission. 9 April 2021. Retrieved 15 April 2023.
  2. ↑ "Scottish comic Fern Brady on her Donegal roots, Shaun Ryder and the Edinburgh Fringe". The Irish News. 12 February 2016. Retrieved 11 May 2019.
  3. 1 2 "Fern Brady and life as a stripper". Evening Times. 25 July 2018. Retrieved 11 May 2019.
  4. 1 2 3 "Interview with Fern Brady". Comedy Blogedy. 1 February 2013. Retrieved 11 May 2019.
  5. ↑ "Faking it". Fest-mag.com. 19 August 2009. Retrieved 11 May 2019.
  6. ↑ "Scottish Comedian Fern Brady's 'Take No Prisoners' Beauty Routine". Viva.co.nz. 16 April 2018. Retrieved 11 May 2019.
  7. ↑ "Fern Brady". The Guardian.
  8. ↑ Golby, Joel. "British As Folk: three comedians in a campervan have fun with history". The Guardian. Retrieved 14 September 2021.
  9. ↑ Bennett, Steve. "Fern Brady announces 2022 tour : Other news 2021 : Chortle : The UK Comedy Guide". www.chortle.co.uk. Retrieved 29 October 2021.
  10. ↑ "Dara Ó Briain, Sarah Millican & more confirmed for Taskmaster season 14". Radio Times. Retrieved 6 September 2022.
  11. ↑ Renton, Catherine (15 February 2020). "Fern Brady - Strong Female Character". The Wee Wee Review. Retrieved 20 February 2023.
  12. ↑ Brady, Fern (14 February 2023). "Why autistic women are often 'ahead of the curve' in social justice and feminist activism". Glamour UK. Retrieved 20 February 2023.
  13. ↑ "'Everything ends up about death and shagging': Fern Brady on comedy, autism and intrusive thoughts". The Guardian. 24 January 2022. Retrieved 23 February 2023.
  14. ↑ "Books Are My Bag Readers Awards 2023". National Book Tokens. Archived from the original on 8 November 2023. Retrieved 8 November 2023.
  15. ↑ "Fern Brady Live at the Apollo". YouTube. Retrieved 29 October 2021.
  16. ↑ Brady, Fern (14 July 2015). "I came out of a teenage mental health unit worse than when I went in". The Guardian. Retrieved 15 January 2021.
  17. ↑ Brady, Fern [@FernBrady] (7 January 2021). "Got autism diagnosis this week. Told my dad who responded by asking me what I had for dinner tonight. 😂 I guess this saves me working out which parent has it" (Tweet). Archived from the original on 6 April 2021. Retrieved 14 June 2021 – via Twitter.
  18. ↑ "BBC Sounds - 1800 Seconds on Autism, Fern Brady on her recent autism diagnosis". BBC. 25 February 2021. Retrieved 24 December 2022.
  19. ↑ "Stand-up is the only time I feel comfortable". Your Autism. National Autistic Society. Autumn 2022. pp. 16–18.
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