Bio

Known for her keen sense of timing, razor sharp wit and extraordinary rapport with an audience, Shannan Calcutt has spent the last 20 years bringing people together around the world to laugh. She has played an eclectic range of venues worldwide, from the Sydney Opera House, to San Francisco's Bimbo's 365 Club, to Saskatoon's Wash 'n Slosh Pub. Most recently, audiences enjoyed seeing Calcutt nightly on the Vegas Strip, attempting to sell her homemade breast implants in Cirque du Soleil's sensual sensation ZUMANITY. As one of today’s leading funny ladies, Calcutt made a name for herself performing in the internationally acclaimed solo Izzy trilogy: Burnt Tongue, It's Me – Only Better! and Out of My Skin, co-written and directed by Sue Morrison. Her performances repeatedly won 5-star reviews and her plays have been broadcast in full on CBC Radio and Canada's Bravo! Network. She has been profiled in international arts magazines American Theatre and Border Crossings. CBC declared her ''a national treasure.'' In addition to performing, Shannan is one of the world's leading instructors in clown, creativity and devising theatre. Calcutt has conducted workshops throughout Canada, Australia, Europe and the United States. She is a regular instructor at Cirque du Soleil and most recently won “Guest Instructor of the Year” for her class “Recess for Grown Ups” at Vegas Theatre Hub. She has written comic acts for Cirque du Soleil, the philanthropic event One Night for One Drop and Berlin's Friedrichstadt-Palast. She has a Master of Fine Arts in Writing for Dramatic Media (University of Nevada, Las Vegas), a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Performance (University of Victoria) and is a graduate of the Dell’Arte International School of Physical Theatre. She is fluent in English and sarcasm. More about Shannan’s work here: shannancalcutt.com