This year is a RECORD BREAKER for Funny Women with over 350 entrants. We've now travelled the length and breadth of the country and been amazed at the huge variety and originality of what we've seen. If there is anything that we think that the girls have got over the boys - then it's the versatility of performance and it's this that we intend to celebrate at the forthcoming charity final in on Monday 20th September in support of OBJECT.
We have we given stage time to over 350 acts, annotated all the marks and comments from the heats, which were each judged by a 12-person panel made up of industry, media and audience members, and watched the shortlisted performances back on film - hence the published lists to demonstrate just how much talent is out there. Everybody who took part should be proud to have been a part of this year's competition and now let's support the women going through to the next and final stage.
The first 10 acts through to the final on Monday 20th September are:
Semi Final 1 - Jessica Fostekew, Sarah Hendrickx, Alison Thea-Skot, Helen Arney and Rachel Parris.
Semi Final 2 - Abigoliah Schamaun, Iona Dudley-Ward, Thankless Child (Liz Black & Freya Slipper), Gemma Whelan and Julia Clark.
A further two finalists will be selected by the audience at our 'Last Laugh Saloon' play off on Saturday 18th September at the Turning Point Festival at the Roundhouse. Eight acts will be invited to compete again for the two remaining places in the final - see HERE for more details.
The 24 acts who went through to the semi-finals are listed below and have now competed in two amazing semi finals on Monday 6th September, which was so close to call, it's sad that we have to drop anybody at this stage...
Abigoliah Schamaun
Hayley Ellis
Jessica Fostekew
Jill Baxter
Jojo Georgiou
Julia Clark
Katrina Thompson
Kerry Herbert
Laura Lexx
Lindsay Sharman
Louisa Theobald
Sarah Hendrickx
Shaista Aziz
Sunna Jarman
Twayna Mayne
Arhondia Rocca also reached the semi final stage but is unable to perform due to a family commitment out of the UK.
Alison Thea-Skot
Clare Lomas
Gemma Layton
Gemma Whelan
Helen Arney
Iona Dudley-Ward
Kate Lucas
Rachel Parris
Thankless Child
Here is the SHORTLIST of all the acts who made it through to the first stage of the selection process for the 2010 Funny Women Awards. This is a fantastic achievement and very well done to everybody who reached this stage! We are hugely committed to the development of female comedy and want to continue working with you, so will be in contact about gigs with us later on this year. Please keep performing live comedy and see you very soon.
Abigoliah Schamaun
Alison Bice
Amy Button
Annie McGrath
Anna Freyberg
Arhondia Rocca
Asli Akbay
Claire Parker
Clare Warde
Caroline Robertson
Christiane O’Mahoney
Dory Dutton
Ellie Rofe
Ellie Taylor
Fern Brady
Fliss Russell
Gauri Dandeker
Gemma Beagley
Hannah Silvester
Harriet Dyer
Hayley Ellis
Helen Keeler
Holly Kavanagh
Jen Cockburn
Jessica Fostekew
Jill Baxter
Jo Browning
Jo Ogden
Jojo Georgiou
Julia Clark
Kat Brown
Kate McCabe
Katie Tracey
Katrina Thompson
Kerry Herbert
Kim MacAskill
Kitty Kavanagh
Laura Lexx
Lindsay Sharman
Louisa Theobald
Lynne Crook
Mab Jones
Roanna Bond
Sadia Azmat
Sarah Benham
Sarah Hendrickx
Sarah Pearce
Scout Durwood
Shaista Aziz
Sian Mayer
Sophie Hailwood
Sunna Jarman
Twayna Mayne
Alison Thea-Skot
Cariad Lloyd
Chizzy Akodolu
Claire Burlington
Clare Lomas
Fun Bags
Gemma Layton
Gemma Whelan
Hannah Brackenbury
Helen Arney
Iona Dudley-Ward
Kate Lucas
Kooky Babooska
Leila Borris
Lois Mills
Mel Moon
Natalie Hunt (as Madame Zucchini)
Rachel Parris
Ruth Cockburn
Sami & Tilly
Silky Pair
Thankless Child
*Acts in bold are through to semi finals.
In addition to the SHORTLIST above, from which we have now selected 24 semi finalists, here is a further list of acts that really impressed us, the 'ones to watch' over the next year. Although they didn't make it onto this year's shortlist, they did extremely well and we are confident that they could be on next year's. Please look out for them around the circuit and at our regular Funny Women Second Sunday Showcases at the Leicester Square Theatre from October onwards which will continue to give a platform to new female comedy talent until next year's competition is launched.
Andrea Hubert
Arna Spek
Beth Anderson
Bernie Pendle
Claire Temple
Eloise Prescott
Emily Lloyd-Saini
Erin Hope Thompson
Freya Slipper
Gemma Hutton
Hannah Warman
Jayne Edwards
Jenny Hughes
Katie Friel
Laura Carruthers
Leanne McKie
Linda Kennedy
Lisa Sheperd
Marilyn Muruako
Mary Louise Stone
Melanie Joslin
Raena Gayle
Shannon Hommel
Sarah May Philo
Sue Gaston
Suzy Wylde
Taylor Glenn
Victoria Jeffrey
Elaine Stewart
Lorna Meehan
Nimmi Harasgama
Nhadine Markhan
Sarah Glenister
First stop was the semi finals on Monday 6th September and our judges included a range of industry professionals and media representatives who helped us select 10 finalists:
Michael Buchanan-Dunne, BBC talent development; Karen Rosie, BBC Comedy producer; Newton Velji, BBC Comedy; Al Cowie, promoter, Llaugh; Mariele Runacre Temple, artistic director of the Wireless Theatre Company; Gillian Thorpe, director of the Orange Tree Theatre, Richmond; Harry Deansway, editor of www.thefixonline.com; Bidisha, journalist, author and presenter on Woman's Hour; Norma Burke, comedy producer, n2o Entertainment; Jan Etherington, comedy writer and producer; Jonathan Grant of Red24 Management and Cath Gagon, of leading talent agency and production company, Avalon. We are also being joined tonight by the US based comedy and writer, Jane Bussmann, who is in London to promote her new book.
The following industry luminaries will be on the judging panel for the grand Charity Final on Monday 20th September:
Lucy Lumsden, head of comedy, Sky; Shane Allen, head of comedy, Channel 4; Jane Berthoud, head of BBC Radio Comedy (CHAIR); Tim Arthur, comedy editor, Time Out; Corrie McGuire of Objective Talent Management; Hils Jago of Amused Moose; April Chamberlain, managing director of the ComedyUnit, and writer and comic, Shazia Mirza.
Something's afoot in the world of female comedy. Here at Funny Women HQ, we've noticed a rather intriguing pattern as we tour our native isle in search of ladies what makes us laugh. This year we've seen more sketch troupes, musical acts, character creations and even performance poets than you can shake a proverbial stick at, alongside more conventional stand ups. From Birmingham to Brighton, Huddersfield across to Hay, and London via Latitude, funny women of Britain have been putting the va-va-voom back into variety - and in huge numbers, too.
So, we decided it's time to honour comedy's cabaret heritage, and recognise the sheer breadth of amazingness buzzing away on the edges of the circuit. That's right, folks - this year, we've launched the first ever Funny Women Variety Award alongside our prestigious original accolade in partnership with the Leicester Square Theatre. The winner of this new title will snatch up the opportunity to perform a full show in their basement studio in early 2011 and receive a very special trophy to mark their achievement.
