Founder, co-creator and performer of all Spymonkey shows to date. Performed in The Servant of Two Masters at Sheffield Crucible (1996), Axomate at the Seville Expo (1992), Eulenspiegel (1991) and in Karl’s Kuhne Gassenchau’s Grand Paradis and Stau in Zurich (1997 and 1998). Director of Little Prince for Donkey Productions (1997), Un Vento Impetuoso for La Canoppia (1996) and Meci Y Me Fui for Pez Enraya ( 1997). In 1999 he appeared in Circus Knie, the Swiss State Circus, and in 2000 formed his own company Punto Fijo, based in Bilbao. Appeared in Cirque Images’ 2003 series Solstrom for Bravo Cable Network. Appeared in Bertold Brecht’s Senor Carrera’s Rifles at the Young Vic, directed by Paul Hunter (2007).

Directing credits include: ‘Lily & Marlene’ for La Dinamica (Spain 2015); ’Looking for Duende’ for Teatro Entre Escombros (Spain 2015); ’Hondycops’ for Squadra Sua (Czech Republic 2015); ’Ferucchio Peru is Extraordinaire’ for Leebo Luby (UK 2015); Manifest Destiny (New York 2015); Fabulous Bäckström Brothers (Finland 2014); Entre Escobros ‘600 Teatro’ (Spain 2014); ‘Gloriator’ for Skipstick Productions (London 2013); ‘NMIIDP’ Simone Riccio, (London 2013); ‘Herr Ist Immer Der Natur’ for Die Drei Auf Den Baum (Berlin 2012); ‘Discombobulated’ for Publick Transport (Bristol & UK tour, 2011); ‘Ramshackadelicious’ (Bristol 2011); ‘Shake’ for The Last Baguette (Switzerland 2010). Director of physical comedy for Chichester Festival Theatre’s ‘Mack & Mabel’ (2015) starring Michael Ball. Co-director of Orpheus in the Underworld at Vienna Volksoper operahouse which opens in 2023.

Aitor is an acclaimed teacher of clown, regularly holding Spymonkey masterclasses in London, New York, Berlin, Los Angeles and around the world, and for the Clown Doctors organisation in Germany, Austria and France.

Has performed and co-created all Spymonkey shows to date. Studied Drama at Hull University, and trained at Fool Time Circus School, Bristol, and with Philippe Gaulier and Monika Pagneaux in Paris. From 1994-97 he was co-musical director and actor with Karl’s Kuhne Gassenchau in Zurich; member of the Improbable Theatre Lifegame company (1998-2000) including an off-Broadway run. Musical director and composer for: Guy Dartnell’s Would Say Something (1998); acro-dance-theatre Mimbre’s Sprung (2001), Trip-Tic (2003) and The Bridge (2007); site-specific pieces with Graeme Gilmour at Kielder Water Northumberland (2006) and Forth & Clyde Canal Glasgow (2007), and with Phil Supple/The Electric Estate for the National Trust at Cragside Northumberland. Appeared with Petra in Sandi Toksvig’s Christmas Cracker starring Ronnie Corbett at the Royal Festival Hall (2009). TV appearances include Cirque Images’ 2003 series Solstrom for Bravo Cable Network and BBC2 Hyperdrive.

Director of Fabulous Bäckström Brothers, a clown opera in Helsinki (2014), and Big Bang Siegfried with Hagen Philharmonic Germany (2016), Enter The Dragons for A&E Comedy (2017). Director of physical comedy for Chichester Festival Theatre’s Mack & Mabel (2015), RSC’s Merry Wives of Windsor (2018) and Tartuffe (2019) and Jack Absolute Flies Again (2022), both for National Theatre. Co-director of Orpheus in the Underworld at Vienna Volksoper operahouse opening 2023.

Emily has been part of Spymonkey since 2014 and works closely with Toby on all areas of the company’s artistic and business development. She project managed the creation and UK and international touring of The Complete Deaths as well as A Christmas Carol and oversees all elements of the company, as well as leading on how we embed equality, diversity and inclusivity in our productions and training programme. Emily is proud to be working with Spymonkey as one of the only project-funded theatre companies in the UK making work consistently on the mid-scale.

As an independent producer she is an advocate for the importance of the independent arts sector and was strategic producer for In Good Company, the Midlands’ flagship artist development programme between 2017-2023 supporting regional theatre makers to thrive alongside a consortium of venues. Emily’s previous work includes making interactive digital experiences and commissioning inspiring, challenging and surprising projects with children and families. She has also worked with The Future is Unwritten Theatre, Bootworks, Hannah Walker and Chris Thorpe and was Press Officer for the comedy and live music venue Komedia between 2010 and 2017. Her previous experience is in venue management at theatres including Komedia, Gardner Arts Centre and Farnham Maltings.

Lucy Bradridge has been an associate artist with Spymonkey since 1998 and has designed all its productions except the recent A Christmas Carol. Her many collaborations with the clown director Cal McCrystal include Alan Ayckbourn’s Mr Whatnot at Royal & Derngate, Northampton, Bubonic Play and Hello Dalai for Piggy Nero, Between a Rock and a Hard Place for Cambridge Footlights, and Fitzrovia Radio’s Dracula at the Mercury Theatre, Colchester. Her design credits also include AutoBoosh for the Mighty Boosh, the clown costume design for Cirque du Soleil’s Varekai and Zumanity, Heroes for Company FZ, Moonjourney by Alice Lowe, New Art Club’s Trials of Hercules, and Gloves On and Our Dancing Feet for the Ragroof Players. Her television credits include Orcadia, and Comedy Lab and The Last Chancers for Channel 4. Her film credits include The Wild and Wycked World of Brian Jones, Out of Water and Queen Bee.

Jasmine is a Hong Kong-Canadian dance artist, actor, maker, and engaged practitioner based in London.

As a performer she’s worked with choreographers such as Wayne McGregor, Akram Khan, and played leading roles in Dragon Spring Phoenix Rise a kung fu musical (The Shed NYC), Wild (How It Ended/Unicorn Theatre), Out of the Deep Blue (Autin Dance Theatre), and Underwater a new dance theatre piece for babies and toddlers (Xenia Aidonopoulou & Georgia Tegou). Jasmine is a puppeteer for My Neighbour Totoro (Royal Shakespeare Company/Improbable) at Barbican, and was in the feature film Jurassic World Dominion. Jasmine’s collaborated with artist Anthea Hamilton on large scale installations The Squash (Tate Britain) and Primetime (Southbank Centre), and toured with multimedia artist Ulf Langheinrich in Vortex. 

As a maker Jasmine tells stories which explore diasporic identity through close, interdisciplinary collaborations using movement, puppetry, sound, and evocative text. Her solo work At Broken Bridge has been performed at Camden People’s Theatre, Pegasus Theatre, and supported by The Place as a Choreodrome Artist.

British actor-musican born in Uganda and of St.Lucian heritage. Acting roles include the lead role of Stephan King in ‘The Three Kings 2018’, the first British feature film shot entirely in the UK for IrokoTV, the leading online streaming platform in Africa, for which he won an award for Best Supporting Actor. He played the role of Marko in Black Sand: A Sandman Story which won awards for best fan fiction film (and a seal of approval from Neil Gaiman himself); played the role of Theo in a short film ‘A Fox In The Night’, shortlisted for Best Short Film at BIFA.

Matthew is a highly skilled basketball player, having played for the England team at 17 and a stint in Croatia and Italy before transitioning to acting, and is trained in martial arts weaponry, kung fu, boxing and parkour.

In 2008 Katie graduated from WAC Arts with a National Diploma in Performing Arts. She then went onto work with Gomito Productions, devising and co-writing ‘The Achemystorium’ and ‘Roost’. She co-founded theatre company ‘Wildheart’, from 2015 to 2018 co- wrote and performed ‘Birdy’ and Wolfmeat’ at Brighton and Edinburgh Fringe. Katie devised, co-produced and performed her solo show ‘Mrs McMoon’s Tea Party’ & ‘The Mrs McMoon Show’. She devised & co-produced ‘Pamela’s Palace’, nominated for a Green Room award for Best Ensemble and toured the UK & Australia, Melbourne International Comedy Festival & Adelaide Fringe. She went on to work with and be directed by Philippe Gaulier, Doctor Brown, Spymonkey, Cal McCrystal & Mick Barnfather. Other companies she collaborated with include; Plays Rough London, Bath Theatre Royal, Signor Baffo, Long Nose, Strangeface, Interactive Theatre International and Pecho Mama.

Katie recently appeared in ‘BBC Doctors’ and can be seen with her baby and partner in the new global Disney Play Campaign, played a featured role in ‘The Captain’ a feature film directed by Jamie Patterson, and as part of Canada Water Theatre for Beardance theatre company, showcasing new female writers. She is currently touring as Sybil in ‘The Faulty Towers Dining Experience’ by Interactive Theatre International.

John-Luke trained with Philippe Gaulier in Etampes.

He’s created and performed ten solo comedy shows, which he’s toured to places such as Oslo’s Crap Comedy Festival, the Melbourne International Comedy Festival, and the Adelaide Fringe. His podcast Sound Heap won the BBC Audio Drama Award for Best Sketch Comedy in 2022.

As an actor, he starred in the international tour and London run of Graeme of Thrones, appeared as Klaus the Annoying German Clown in the Paul Feig film Last Christmas, as Nathan in Netflix’s Lovesick, and as Harry in Channel 4’s Babylon. He also appeared as Nigel Mainpart in the sitcom Bull – a role that, as writer of the show, he named himself.

John-Luke has also written across a wide range of television, radio and for the stage. He co-wrote the sitcom Bull which starred Maureen Lipman and Robert Lindsay, and The Goodies 2020 radio revival, both with Gareth Gwynn. As a director, he’s worked with comedians including Josh Glanc, Deborah Frances-White and Myra Dubois.