Bryony Kimmings is a playwright, performer, documentary maker and screen writer from the UK. She is inspired by female stories, social taboos and dismantling power structures. Kimmings’ work is brutally honest, very funny and often a bit geeky and dangerous.
How did you get into comedy?
A good theatre teacher at school. I was one of those kids who didn’t have much ambition, who liked messing around and not really any clue what I wanted to do, and she saw talent in me and basically told me not to fuck about and start to knuckle down. She introduced me to loads of female writers and recommended my uni course to me.
When I got to uni I thought I was studying plays and acting. NOPE. The course at Brunel was all about Performance. Be it queer work, body based live art, avant garde shows or durational happenings and digital spaces. Everything was strange, autobiographical, and political and I fell in love with art with a voice. And the idea of being an artist.
I didn’t make a show until I was 29. Why? I didn’t feel like I had much to say, I hadn’t lived yet. I spent a lot of my twenties in and out of clubs, and organising cabaret and club nights in East London. I cut my teeth performing for really drunk punters who didn’t have long attention spans, trying not to get bottled. So, when I finally decided to write theatre and perform it in more traditional spaces, I was ready!
I like the weirdos, I like the late night, I like the camp and the dangerous. That is the work I watch. I like to be at the edges.
Tell us about your theatrical style?
Maybe a bit Pam Ayers mixed with Marina Abramovich and Polystyrene with a bit of Lily Allen and some Jackanory? Its stand up, its music, its stories about my life, its dancing, some body based art stuff, and often its quite episodic and I narrate it. It will usually be about issues… sex, alcohol, depression, cancer. But it will be funny… then it will make you cry because you got sucked in. It seeks to make the world a better place. It seeks to make us talk. You’ll get some entertainment and a secret lecture. Glitter, costumes, songs, video, chaos.
What’s Bog Witch about and where can we see it?
It’s the next instalment of my life. About moving to the countryside because I fell in love with an eco-warrior, and trying to live more in line with the planet. It’s about having a hole in my soul that only goes away when I buy it things, and how that hole nearly took over my life when we moved. About deprogramming from capitalism, healing in nature, not being scared and facing things head-on and having more hope. You can see it on tour this summer and autumn. From Worthing to Leeds, from Edinburgh to Cardiff… check my website!
Where do you get your inspiration from?
Life. Art. Films. Music. Nature. Stories I hear in the local shop. History. Chemistry. My kid. Other artists. Reading. Listening to things. I am intensely interested in the world. I like devouring information, learning, and talking to people. I think people are too guarded and/or worried about inspiration. Like it’s a magical unicorn that only strikes us when we have the right pen or are in a state of flow. Inspiration is bloody everywhere when you are an artist, it runs through you. Let it be.
What else have you been working on? Can you tell us anything more about The Rapture and Little Red Hen?
I have written a BBC One Drama that is apparently out this year. It’s based on the lovely Liz Jensen’s book The Rapture and a couple of eps are also written by my gorgy mate Rebecca Manley. It stars Ruth Madeley, India Amarteifio, Sam Hazeldine, Iwan Rheon and Ruth Jones. It’s a climate thriller with some comedy chops and I love it.
I am mid-way through writing my next feature film, Little Red Hen and this is also a climate story (see the theme here!). This one is a horror and is about an eco-commune. Sort of Prevenge, plus Sean of the Dead plus Midsummer by way of The Wickerman. It’s not got a release date yet, gawd knows if it will be made… but it should be.
Who are your favourite Funny Women?
- Jen Brister – funny as all heck and also a solid egg in the world of political advocacy and speaking truth to power. I respect her immensely.
- Michelle De Swarte is great at cutting to the juice. I like how deadpan she is ,and how you know she talks like that down the pub.
- Jordan Jensen – her crowd work is incredible.
- Natalie Palamides is a true silly billy and I love her.
- Sophie Duker – very smart. Very lovely. Very funny.
- Rachel Porter – I know her from Figs in Wigs which is a comedy/live art dance troupe, but she has branched out into comedy and I am HERE FOR THAT!
- Midgett Bardot – More arty… an absolute star and wild as all heck.
Bryony Kimmings is touring her critically acclaimed show Bog Witch at venues nationwide, including a month-long run at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, through 1st October 2026. More info and tickets at here.
