JD Derbyshire


Jan "JD" Derbyshire was a Canadian theatre artist, comedian, and writer. They performed their one-person show, Certified, across Canada, including in Vancouver where it won two Jessie Richardson Theatre Awards.

Early life and education

Derbyshire was born and raised in Calgary, Alberta. They completed a master's degree from the Ontario College of Art and Design in Inclusive Design in 2014.

Career

Derbyshire's play, Funny in the Head, about their experiences with bipolar disorder, was commissioned by Stage Left Productions, and it premiered at the Balancing Acts Disability Arts Festival in Alberta, Canada in 2008. In 2010, alongside the Paralympic Games, Derbyshire performed their one-person show Funny in the Head at the Kickstart Disability Arts and Culture Festival, and it was the only show performed at Kickstart.
Derbyshire developed another one-person show, Certified, which premiered at the Vancouver Fringe Festival in 2016. They have performed Certified for Handsome Alice Theatre in 2018, Touchstone Theatre in 2019, at One Yellow Rabbit's High Performance Rodeo in 2020, and at the Progress Festival in 2020. Derbyshire was set to perform Certified as part of Gateway’s 2020-2021 season but the show was cancelled due to COVID-19.
In 2020, Derbyshire was writer-in-residence at Mount Royal University. They were a recipient of a Fleck Fellowship at the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity in 2021. In 2023, their first novel, Mercy Gene: The Man-made Making of a Mad Woman, a work of auto-fiction, was published by Goose Lane Editions.

Personal life

Derbyshire and their ex-husband, TV director Michael Rohl, had a daughter, actress Kacey Rohl. They were non-binary and used they/them pronouns. They died on September 26, 2025.

Works

Plays

Labour Unions, the Brotherhood of MothersFreaky Jane Fine Takes on the Serious WorldBearded Circus LadiesIngenius Speculations co-written with Kim Selody, Rita Bozi, and Roy SuretteJoke YouMaharani and the Maple LeafUnder the Big TopAll InFunny in the HeadTurkey in the WoodsSorry Toronto, Really I Am
  • ''Certified''

Novels

  • ''Mercy Gene: The Man-made Making of a Mad Woman''