+ABOUT

LAUREN BRADY,

is a multidisciplinary artist and multi-award-winning creator born in Calgary, Alberta, on Treaty 7 territory. She began her artistic journey training in various styles of dance at age 3, and has been chasing the laugh ever since. Lauren graduated with distinction from the University of Alberta’s BFA in Acting program in 2021, and has since built a career at the intersection of comedy, clowning, and physical theatre — training through One North Clown & Creation, Spymonkey Physical Theatre, Denise Clarke’s One Yellow Rabbit BYA Ensemble, and under the mentorship of the creative team behind Mump & Smoot (Michael Kennard, John Turner, and Karen Hines). In 2021, she received a Canada Council Grant to pursue clown training directly with Turner, Hines, and Kennard.

As an actor, Lauren’s stage work includes The Jungle Book (Alberta Theatre Projects), Middlemarch and She Sat Down and Wept (One Yellow Rabbit), The Comedy of Errors (Shakesbow – Theatre Calgary), Imperfect Symmetry (Jupiter Theatre),  and White Christmas (Opera NUOVA), alongside earlier credits at Studio Theatre including The Birds, Dracula, and The Secret in the Wings.

Lauren is the founder and artistic director of Bad Knees Studios (formerly HEYwire Theatre), an internationally recognized physical comedy company producing her solo works — bold, fearless, and unapologetically strange pieces that blend clown, dance, and dark humour. Her work includes SWAN?, @interWEBBED, and OWEaDEBT. SWAN? has toured internationally to The Adelaide Fringe Festival, The Melbourne International Comedy Festival, The Edinburgh Fringe, The Darwin Festival, and The Latitude Festival, earning over ten five-star reviews and playing a sold-out run at the Darwin Festival — though Lauren loves nothing more than performing locally whenever she gets the chance.

Alongside her performance career, Lauren is a sought-after teacher of Canadian clowning, devising, dance, and choreography. She runs her own workshop and teaching programs — leading sessions for performers of all backgrounds across improv, comedy, theatre, and dance — while also collaborating with companies including the University of Alberta, Azimuth Theatre, and CGC YEG. Her work has taken her internationally, including workshops abroad at Improv Theatre Sydney and The Q Performing Arts Centre in Australia.

Last year, Lauren was named a recipient of the High Commission of Canada & The Beaverbrook Canadian Foundation’s Spotlight Canada Award for her production of SWAN? at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival — a career-defining honour recognizing Canadian excellence on the world stage. This year, she also premiered her newest solo work, GERALD, at the Edmonton Fringe Festival.