Funny Women stands up to stop sexual violence against women in the Congo

Funny Women celebrated International Women's Day with a superb line-up of talent, put together with the aim of doing justice to a fantastic and important annual event. Barbara Nice hosted the night and instantly won us over with her matriarchal charm, unique interpretation of Robbie Williams' 'Let Me Entertain You' song and her insights into how hoovering has aided her adept handling of any roving comedy mic lead – "just one flick and I'm ready for the stairs."

The first half showcased past winners of the Funny Women Awards – Suzy Bennett, Andi Osho, Katherine Ryan and Miss London. This would be enough to sate any appetite but in the interval we were further treated to delicious, gluten-free cakes from Wendy May Cakes. After this we were straight into a fantastic second half that included Domestic Goddi,  Radio 4's Carrie Quinlan's quips on driving across the great yet always quirky and downright scary US of A, Bridget Christie with her 'ants-ridden' character act, A Ant – always a delight – Leisa Rea who sang some hilarious songs and danced with all the uninhibited gleefulness of a four year-old, and a fantastic cabaret-esque act from Circularity Thinking – I've barely looked at a hula-hoop since infant school but darn, I'm inspired to pick one up again after seeing the wondrous spectacle this comedy troupe created.

Following on from that, we had the double-act Fordham and Pilkington with their hilarious rendition of toddler-ult-hood, dating guru Deborah Frances-White and Shazia Mirza's dry, laconic insights into her family life – she did also shout "cock" quite a few times.

Jan Ravens finished the show – my jaw's still aching from a) laughing so much and b) attempting to impersonate Janet Street-Porter, I'm not sure when the mimicry skills Jan taught will come in handy but I've been amusing everyone with my own rendition of Anne Robinson crowing, it helps to think of celebrities as creatures...

Thank you also to Lynne Franks, Chair of V Day UK, for her very informative and moving speech on why raising awareness of the work V Day do in the Congo is so vitally and extremely important.  There are women suffering all over the world who need our help but Franks drew our attention to the frequency and severity of sexual violence that is currently targeting women and children in the Democratic Republic of Congo, as a weapon of control.



Please go to http://drc.vday.org/ for more information and to pledge your support.

Click here to book for events we are putting on in conjunction with the See You Next Tuesday (SYNT) Festival, in further celebration of International Women's Day.

Birds Eye View Film Festival 2010

Birds Eye View Film Festival returns this week for its annual celebration of the best of female filmmakers on the international and domestic scene. Highlights this year include the US/Palestinian drama 'Amreeka', Indian music-documentary 'The Other Song' and Drew Barrymore's much-awaited debut 'Whip It'.

Danish filmmaker Susanne Bier, famous for her Dogme-influenced films, will be discussing the inspiration behind her work in Birds Eye View's Masterclass and the festival's now legendary Sound and Silents will treat us to three silent movies from the early filmmaker Lotte Reiniger with live accompaniment from contemporary and innovative musicians, specially commissioned to write the scores.

Jenna Rosher's beautifully observed documentary 'Junior', exploring a mother and son's relationship in their later years, also looks set to be a touching and heartwarming hit and will be showing at the festival's 'Bring a Baby' night at The Ritzy cinema.


Click here for festival programme and tickets

Influential psychologist to speak at Funny Women forum

Renowned media psychologist and writer Linda Papadopoulos will be speaking at our event, 'Not Just A Pretty Face', in conjunction with Candied Thinking, a social impact initiative that aims to bring about social change.



Papadopoulos has just written a report for the Home Office on the 'Sexualisation of Young People'. The report particularly focuses on the role that the media play in this 'sexualisation' and discusses the impact it is having on violence committed against women. Papadopoulos' research has been well-documented in the press this past week and, in particular, her concerns surrounding young girls' aspirations to become 'wags' and glamour models, including fears that girls are now only valued on their looks alone and how 'desirable' they are. Papadopoulos has also recommended that magazines use health warning labels on airbrushed images to ensure people are made aware that these 'perfect' ideals are completely unrealistic.

Click here for article 

The discussion forum takes place at The New Players Theatre as part of the cultural festival 'See You Next Tuesday' (SYNT) in celebration of International Women's Day.  SYNT was conceived by the founders of V-Day London and is part of the global V-Day movement to end violence against women and children.

Funny Women and SYNT events:

11th March, 5.30-7.30pm – 'Stand Up to Stand Out' Comedy Workshop
Our fun-packed and interactive, comedy workshop explores the rudiments of stand-up all at a special, festival price of £35 – includes tea, cake and a donation to V-Day.

13th March, 3.00-5.00pm – Funny Women Comedy Writers and Performers Forum
Gives novice and experienced writers and performers the chance to meet and mingle. Special guests include Radio 4's Carrie Quinlan and actor and playwright Kiki Kendrick.

15th March, 5.30-7.30pm – 'Not Just a Pretty Face' Forum
Discussion on how women can be a powerful and effective tool for changing the world.

For tickets please go to http://www.newplayerstheatre.com/london/events/seeyounexttuesday.asp or call 08444 771000.

There are still tickets left for our Funny Women Stand Up! Just one week to go until the show that celebrates International Women's Day and kicks off two weeks of festival celebration. This is set to be a stonking night with an extraordinary line-up of talent you're unlikely to enjoy all under one roof for at least another year! We have Jan Ravens, Shazia Mirza and past Funny Women winners including Andi Osho, Miss London and Katherine Ryan as well as sketches and character acts from the very talented Fordham and Pilkington and Bridget Christie, to name but a few.



Don't miss this cornucopia of talent or the opportunity to join Funny Women in standing up and speaking out to stop violence against women and children in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Book Now or call 0844 847 2475 

Funds raised on all our events as part of the SYNT festival will go towards V-Day's spotlight campaign to end rape in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

The Sugar Babes at New Wimbledon Theatre

Not to be confused with the seminal girl band of "The Noughties", this is the latest offering from the comedy-pair Fordham and Pilkington (Philippa Fordham and Kate Pilkington). The duo's play, 'The Sugar Babes' – which tells the story of two girls' quest to find their daddy, who they believe is Alan Sugar – has been selected to run as part of the New Wimbledon Theatre's 'Fresh Ideas' season, which aims to give first-time writers and performers the opportunity to stage their work. Philippa and Kate write and perform extremely original and funny sketches, so the play will no doubt be a great chance to see the full extent of these two talented performers' abilities.

The Sugar Babes
Wednesday 17 February 2010 to Saturday 20 February 2010, 7.45pm

Click here for more details and tickets 

Jan Ravens on QI Tonight

Check out this preview clip of Jan Ravens on QI, airing tonight.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g7TsTk-3wq4

February 5th, BBC One, 8.30pm

Catch Andi Osho on Mock The Week

Andi Osho, Funny Women Winner (2007), is appearing on Mock The Week tonight. Catch her alongside Andrew Maxwell and Stewart Francis. Previous Funny Women winners who have appeared on the show include Zoe Lyons and Sarah Millican.



February 4th BBC Two 9pm

Jan Ravens headlines our Orange Tree Theatre showcase

Impressionist Jan Ravens headlined a fantastic line-up, which included Katherine Ryan and Jo Selby, in the unique and intimate setting of the Orange Tree Theatre last Sunday, all in aid of the charity The New Victoria Medical Foundation.
   
Click here to read our full review

Helen Arney's Christmas Charity Challenge

Helen Arney, Funny Women semi-finalist 2008, kept herself very busy over Christmas. Rather than just stuff herself with turkey, chocolates and Baileys over the festive period Christmas (actually I dunno, maybe she found time for all that as well!) she recorded a song on her ukulele for every single 31 days of Christmas, in aid of the homeless charity Shelter.


Helen's musical and comedic talents are attracting a lot of attention and although these songs won't be performed live, (as yet)  they're consigned to posterity on good old You Tube.  Please check them out below.

http://www.youtube.com/helenarney#p/

Helen Arney will also be performing at our 2nd Sunday Showcase on Valentine's Day (14th February in case you didn't know!) Please see below to book tickets.

http://www.leicestersquaretheatre.com/lqt/show/S1254158750/Funny+Women+Showcase

Catch Funny Women Finalist Susan Calman in 'Rab C. Nesbitt'

Susan Calman, Funny Women Finalist (2006),  is set to appear in the ninth series of the classic comedy show 'Rab C. Nesbitt'. Starring Gregor Fisher as the Scottish alcoholic layabout, the programme cemented the string vest as a symbol of the 'opt-out' lifestyle Rab advocated. The show originally ran from the late '80s for a decade and has just returned to the BBC's screens.



Susan can also be found sitting in for Fred MacAulay on BBC Radio Scotland on the 3rd, 8th-12th and 15-18th February. She's also appearing at Soho Theatre from the 5th-6th March.

Rab C. Nesbitt
BBC2 , Thursday 18th February, 9.30pm

See the link below for tickets to her Soho Theatre show.

http://www.sohotheatre.com/pl1844.html

Zoe Lyons to embark on debut international tour

Back in 2004 Zoe Lyons won the Funny Women Awards, which was uncannily predicted by Lynne Parker the second she handed the budding comic a flyer with information about entering the awards.
Since then, Lyons has received critical acclaim, gigging in clubs and festivals around the country, and cracked 'the funniest joke' at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival 2008.  She is now embarking on her first international tour, with her sell-out show, 'Miss Machismo', in less than a month. The tour starts at the Leicester Comedy Festival on 20th February and will be part of the New Zealand Comedy Festival.

See her website for more dates and details.

http://www.zoelyons.co.uk/tour.php

Funny Women Finalist nominated at Scottish Variety Awards

Elaine Malcolmson, Funny Women Finalist 2008, has been nominated for Best Up and Coming Comedian at the Scottish Variety Awards.



Votes are being counted now so please follow the link below to vote and show her your support.
http://www.clyde1.com/Article.asp?id=1670093&spid=36151

The winner will be announced on March 26th this year. Please also see below a short clip of the comic, for a reminder of her talent.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UpF1_Lhf490

Lynne Parker talks to the 3rdi magazine

Lynne Parker chats to the 3rdi, an informative and inspiring magazine for working women, about the ethos of Funny Women. 

Please click here to follow the link to this interview

Catch Shazia Mirza on BBC's Muslim Driving School

Shazia Mirza is providing the voice-over for BBC Two's Muslim Driving School. The programme documents the ups and downs in Muslim women's lives as they work towards achieving, not only one of life's essential skills, but one of life's essential rites of passage to freedom and independence. The programme also looks at the lives of the teachers who help them achieve this, including Burnley's first-ever Asian, Muslim, female driving instructor. Shazia's wry and witty narration is a warm and welcome addition to this genuinely insightful and interesting programme.

Domestic Goddi Present...

Domestic Goddi are continuing to present fantastic shows at Lowdown at The Albany. Last night's included previous Funny Women finalists Bridget Christie and Pippa Evans.



Please read our review:

As a lover of all things retro, the competition to win a ‘70s Bionic Woman annual would have been enough to tempt me along to Domestic Goddi’s night of sketch, character and stand-up. As it happens, the duo (BBC Comedy Award Winner Helen O’Brien and Stage Award nominee Genevieve Swallow) featured an enticing line-up of talent, alongside their own sketches, including if.comedy Newcomer nominee Pippa Evans and Funny Women Finalist (2004) Bridget Christie.

Click here to read more

First Comedy Workshop of 2010

If you've always had a hunch you might be good at stand-up or simply feel that this year could be the time to try something completely different, why not book on to our first comedy workshop of the year – 'Standing up to stand out', which takes place in Kew this Friday.



The workshop lasts two hours and will take you through the basics of stand-up in a fun and interactive session, where you'll get a taster of what it's like to perform. Although a sense of humour will certainly be of assistance, don't fret about the number of gags you have or haven't got tucked under your belt, the main objective in the workshops is to enjoy yourself.

Attendee Janice Twine-Wells decided, on a whim, to take one of our workshops last year. Having always had an ability to tell funny stories and use humour to get her through most things in life, she found that the workshop gave her the confidence to implement this talent. She says: "I suppose I learnt the difference between a good story teller and stand-up." She adds: "I was inspired to have some one-to-one coaching with Lynne and went on to enter the competition. I loved it!"

Since this, Janice has been asked to do a set at a conference in front of 180 hypnotherapists (let's hope they fall under the spell of comedy too!) and will be entering the Funny Women competition again this year.

Details: 

Friday 22nd January 2010 from 6.30 pm to 8.30 pm (doors 6.00 pm, refreshments served) at the Earthlife Centre, Arch 2, Kew Bridge Arches, Richmond, Surrey TW9 3AW (under arches next to Kew Bridge).


The price: £45 inclusive of VAT and we offer a discount for bookings for more than 3 women booking together. BOOK NOW by following the link to http://www.wegottickets.com/event/64179 or for more details please contact us at info@funnywomen.com or call us on 020 8948 4444.

Suzy Bennett stars in Channel 4 Show

Catch Suzy Bennett in Channel 4 production 'The Diets That Time Forgot.' The Funny Women Winner of 2006 is one of nine appearing in a diet and fitness programme, which tests the different methods our forebears used to lose weight. Contrary to popular belief, diets did not arrive with '60s' Twiggy but have been an integral part of the health and fitness phenomenon that got into gear towards the turn of the 19th century.

Confined to a health farm, the groups are split into teams of three to test the exercise and diet regimes that gained popularity in the Victorian, Edwardian and 1920s' period. Suzy, placed in the Victorian category, experiences the Banting Diet of 1863 (an earlier version of the Atkins diet – low in carbohydrates and high in protein) and the pain and torture of squeezing one's self into a corset of the day, designed to reduce a lady's waist to agonisingly small proportions.  Amazingly she does all this, while maintaining the pre-requisite Victorian pout, without fainting. 

Follow Suzy's journey every Monday on More 4 at 9.00pm, starting this Monday January 11th.

Shazia Mirza to headline in first showcase of the year

Happy New Year to everyone from Funny Women! Hope this finds you embracing your thermals and enjoying the snow-clad environment that surrounds us. Just noticed a rather forlorn-looking snowman in my next door neighbour's garden. Like many of us at this time of year he could probably do with some belly-aching laughs and japes. Tis a shame he can't pop down to our first Second Sunday Showcase of the year but, alas, he is fated to melt. For those of a less ephemeral nature, please join us in warding off the winter blues this Sunday as we have a stellar line-up to kick-start 2010.



Guardian columnist and award winning comedienne Shazia Mirza will be headlining the show at the Leicester Square Theatre. Shazia, who was a semi-finalist in NBC's Last Comic Standing and won Columnist of the Year at the PPA Awards (both in 2008) has courted some controversy throughout her career, sending up stereotypes of Muslim women and tearing at the fringes of a politically correct society, but this has never been at the expense of producing genuinely hilarious material. She performs, as Three Weeks says, "with a distinct comedy voice that should put other comics to shame." A former school teacher as well, (she used to try out her jokes on the pupils) we look forward to seeing how she keeps the Funny Women audience in line.

Funny Women Winner of 2009, Miss London, will be hosting the evening's entertainment. Fresh from a whirlwind schedule of Christmas gigs with The Real Deal Comedy Tour, 2010 looks set to be another exciting year for Miss London – it'll be great to have her commandering our floors!

We also have stand-up from Funny Women 2009 finalists Elizabeth Mee and Katarina Vrana, and will be showcasing new talent Sarah Pearce, Ishi Khan Jackson and Anna Grear.

Forthcoming Second Sunday Showcases: 14th February, 14th March – details to follow, stay tuned!

Funny Women's favourite female comics from 2009

I've been asking you who your favourite female comics were from 2009, so thanks to everyone who contributed their thoughts. Sarah Millican appears to be your clear favourite but there are less well-known comics who have kept you laughing this year.

Find out who they are and read the full article here!

 http://www.t5m.com/charlotte-browne/sarah-millican-%E2%80%93-funny-womens-favourite-of-2009.html?fmt=news

And a very merry and hilarious Christmas to you all from Funny Women. See you in the new year. xxx

Please support this cause

Here at Funny Women, we like to support causes that we think are important. Please sign this petition, if you wish, to ensure that Boris Johnson keeps his promise to fund four rape crisis centres in London.

Tell Boris Johnson to keep his promise to fund 4 rape crisis centres for London.

Full house for mince pie Christmas showcase

Thanks to everyone who came to our last sell-out showcase of the year and helped make it such a success. Aside from the mince pies (almost on a par with my mum's homemade ones) each perfomer held the audience captive, like small children gazing in wonder at the Christmas tree lights when they're first switched on (that's my last tenuous Christmas simile I promise).

Our headliner, Mandy Muden, blended comedy and magic – quirky and satirically flirtatious (if you know what I mean?!), she winked and fluttered her way effortlessly from gag to trick, like a somewhat bawdy life-sized version of Tinkerbell. I found her joke about making builders go "wahey!" (because she stands under their ladders and shakes them) particularly funny.

Muden has performed straight stand-up in the past but always enjoyed doing tricks and thinks that the magic "adds another dimension", especially when everyone else on the bill is a stand-up. Somewhat to my surprise, she says magicians are often treated like 'lepers' on the comedy circuit. "Basically anything other than straight stand up is seen as a 'novelty act' and a cop out. There are many promoters that will not consider booking anyone who uses props of any kind."

America has gone even further than this and banned her  from the country for three years, as a danger to the citizens of the USA. "It's a total pain, I am always getting arrested at airports as I travel with gunpowder and knives." Funny Women will definitely not be banning her and looks forward to having Mandy back again.  

Deborah Frances-White confidently kicked off the proceedings, working the room as if she already knew the audience's secrets, bringing their contradictions to light in a buoyant and non-malicious manner. With masterful delivery, it was difficult not to fall under her spell as she got people to partake in exercises from her celebrated show "How To Get Almost Anyone To Want To Sleep With You".

Annabel Giles was our expert host throughout, regaling us with classic parents' quotes (how do parents always provide such brilliant material?!) and even some tips from her days as a model on how to prevent mohair fluff escaping up your nose.

In between we were treated to some great acts from our semi-final this year; Suzi Ruffell, who can clearly win over any crowd with her strong sense of self and zero self-consciousness; the very endearing and funny Hatty Ashdown, brilliant double-act Morris and Vyse and sets from some of our finalists this year – sardonic Charlie Covell, razor sharp Marie Vagen and effusive Giada Garofalo. Sorry to reduce you to soundbites, you are far more complex than this I appreciate! (Just don't have quite enough space to express more of your brilliance..)

Please join us in the new year for our next Second Sunday Showcase on Sunday 10th January. A great way to dissolve the blues..

Funny Women 2009 Winner to star in BBC Three Pilot

The winner of the Funny Women Finals 2009, Miss London (aka Dionne Hughes), is to star in a new BBC Three pilot called Laughter Shock. The show, due to be screened in February of next year, will feature a mix of sketch and stand-up from 12 of the best new multicultural acts in the country, who are all making their debut television appearances.

To read the rest of this article, please click here

                             

Some genuine Christmas magic this Sunday

It's getting harder to remember the last genuinely magical Christmas I had. At some point it changed from the innocence of the Frog Chorus and Paul McCartney frolicking about with Linda in the snow bashing tambourines, to my mum's rather disappointed face when yet another one of those soulless round-robin letters falls through the letterbox; the annual bragging of a friend, last seen in 1974, about their marvellous, multi-talented children juggling their work as an ambassador for Unicef with saving seals from extinction on dangerous white-water rafting trips in Alaska while also dating a supermodel, tends to herald a rather crestfallen look on mum's face as she mentally totters all this up against the achievements of her three offspring. This normally prompts me to say something along the lines of "well they're not going to slip in all the other stuff are they, the alcoholism and the porn addiction!" Christmas does little to curtail my cynicism.

But that's enough about Christmas in the Browne household. More importantly, come and experience some of that traditional "oooh and ahhhh" factor that, once upon a time, staring at the Christmas tree lights used to provoke, with the mood-lifting magic of Mandy Muden, our headliner at the Funny Women Showcase this Sunday. Taking a break from her successful career on the cruise circuit, Mandy will have more than a mouldy mince pie up her sleeve to tantalise us with. Uniquely gifted, Mandy is the only woman to combine comedy and magic on the UK Comedy and Corporate Circuits and was the first woman to host the famous Magic Circle. She couldn't be further from some of the previous, rather servile stereotypes of women who have worked in magic but is perhaps more attractive than many of the males who have dominated the industry; The Evening Standard describe her as "a sexy Tommy Cooper minus The Fez."



Other gifts this Sunday are the talents of our host Annabel Giles. Actor, presenter, writer, comedienne (her CV reads like the life I wish I had!) this will be her debut performance with Funny Women that she will no doubt shine and twinkle in (I know, any more annoying Christmas metaphors I can get in?!) given her wealth of experience on programmes such as Radio 4's Loose Ends and fashion show Posh Frocks and New Trousers with my childhood hero Sarah Greene.

If you're looking for some tips in approaching the man you've liked at work all year at the Christmas office party, then look no further than our dating guru Deborah Frances White who will be performing extracts from her hit Edinburgh show 'How To Get Almost Anyone You Want To Sleep With You.' I've not seen it myself, but this show has provoked nothing but the highest of accolades from reviewers. This lady deserves the attention-grabbing headline with The Stage describing her as "an extraordinarily talented woman" and Three Weeks revelling in the joy of watching coy audience members "gain confidence and coolness in three minutes." Yes, think of it as comedy and coaching rolled into one, just don't use your new skills to approach the married boss, we'd rather not encourage infidelity here at Funny Women..

All this including hot new acts, Funny Women 2009 semi-finalist Hatty Ashdown and Funny Women finalist 2009 Giada Garofalo!

We hope to see you all for the funny festivities on Sunday.

New Girl Talk Editor

Please welcome our new Girl Talk editor, Charlotte Browne. Freelance journalist and a budding comic in her own right, Charlotte will be rounding up the news and views of the world of female comedy and beyond. Please send press releases and information to charlotte@funnywomen.com.


Read about Charlotte’s experience of performing at one of our ‘Second Sunday’ showcases at the Leicester Square Theatre, on her own personal blog at http://www.t5m.com/charlotte-browne/feeling-the-fear-at-funny-women-showcase.html

Funny Women is Sell Out Success at Leicester Square Theatre

BBC Comedy Extra coverage of Funny Women Awards goes live