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Howdy! This is Michael J Grady and I’m excited to share some of my work with you!

I’m the head writer and co-creator of THE DEATH OF COMEDY, a radio sitcom and sketch show that’s been airing on KPTZ (91.9 FM broadcast out of Port Townsend, Washington) for the last several years. I’m also publishing DINING WITH CANNIBALS, a satirical sci-fi novel, in audio form on Spotify.

Most of my writing is inspired in some way by the comic double act. I find the straight man and the stooge to be delightful, versatile, and compelling, as they dramatize the folly and tragedy of human communication. My interest in comic masks has been a creative boon to me. I’ve gained a lot of insight from the stock characters of Commedia dell’arte, and the classic comic characters and clown types, that have evolved in Vaudeville, music halls, old movies and cartoons — their statuses, their desires, their inability to see whole, and their tendency to land themselves in the same situations over and over again. They have had a consequential impact on my worldview and opened me up as a writer.

Education-wise, I hold degrees in Theatre and Education from Emerson College, as well as an MFA in Creative Writing from Goddard College. I studied clowning with the New York Goofs in 2004 and Commedia at the Accademia dell’Arte (ADA) in Italy in 2005 and 2008. At ADA, I also lectured in Comic Masks and Clown Types and co-taught a year-long graduate course in Comedy Aesthetics (“Principia Comica I and II”.)

Several of my short plays have been published and produced in Europe and the US, and one of them was a finalist at the Humana Festival. I have other projects in various stages of development, and I’m excited to share them with you soon. Thanks for checking out my work, please feel free to contact me with any comments, questions, or potential commissions!