Jake Brasch
(he/they) is a queer, sober, Jewish clown from Colorado and a recent graduate of Juilliard’s Playwriting Program.
Their play The Reservoir marked their Off-Broadway debut at Atlantic Theater Company, in association with Ensemble Studio Theatre/Sloan Project. Its world premiere was co-produced by Denver Center for the Performing Arts, Alliance Theatre, and Geffen Playhouse, followed by a production at Berkeley Rep. Their play Trip Around the Sun will have its world premiere at Two River Theater in 2027.
Jake is half of American Sing-Song, a musical-theatre duo with playwright Nadja Leonhard-Hooper. Together as A.S.S., they write and perform filthy, heartfelt comedic musicals. Their latest, HOLE!, opened to rave reviews at the 2025 Edinburgh Fringe Festival, returned to the Fringe and made its London debut at Soho Theatre in 2026, and will premiere Off-Broadway at Playwrights Horizons this winter. A.S.S. presented GERALDINE! at Ars Nova’s ANT Fest in 2024. Their new musical, HOMO ERECTUS, has been developed by Vineyard Theatre and Ars Nova.
Jake’s honors include Vineyard Theatre’s 2025 Paula Vogel Award, the Kennedy Center’s 2024 Paula Vogel Playwriting Award, and the inaugural Terrence McNally Recovery Commission. The Reservoir received Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle, and Lortel Award nominations and won Best New Play at both the 2025 Henry Awards and the 2025 Suzi Bass Awards.
Plays in development include How to Draw a Triangle (Manhattan Theatre Club, The Recovery Project at Florida Studio Theatre, and New York Stage and Film); Spin (Juilliard and LAByrinth Theatre Company); Salutations, I’m Creative Dave (Page 73); Trip Around the Sun ( New York Stage and Film, South Coast Rep and South Carolina New Play Festival); Sweet Jack (The Acting Company); Family Weekend (Terrence McNally Foundation/O’Neill Theatre Center and Alley Theatre); and a hitherto-untitled Denver Airport musical (Denver Center).
Jake was a member of the 2024 Page 73 Writers Group and a 2023–24 Alliance/Kendeda finalist, and is a proud alum of Ensemble Studio Theatre’s Youngblood. They earned their BFA at NYU Tisch, training at the Experimental Theatre Wing and New Studio on Broadway.
A longtime New York birthday-party clown, Jake is developing CLOWNTOWN, a comedy series inspired by their clowning career. A pianist and composer, they have written music and lyrics for films, musicals, plays, and podcasts, and are developing a Grotowski-based physical dramaturgy pedagogy for playwrights.
They have three brothers, 24 pairs of glasses, and a home in Brooklyn with Marvin, their sourdough starter, and Tyler, their brilliant husband.
