magazine

Sharon Simpson

22nd February 2012

 

We are very pleased to announce that Sharon Simpson, The Reinvention Diva herself, is stepping up to the Funny Women Charity Challenge on March 8th. She will be replacing Sonia Brown MBE, who has had to pull out due to pressure of work.

“To be honest, being involved in this challenge scares me, but I believe it’s important to be pushed out of one’s comfort zone, and this is way out of mine! Even greater, I get to raise money for RAFT (Restoration of Appearance and Function Trust) a charity I have recently become a Patron of.

RAFT is dedicated to improving the lives of people who have been burned, suffer from skin illnesses/skin cancer, limb amputations and wounds. As a sufferer of an illness which altered my appearance, and for some time, affected my confidence, I know first-hand how vital it is to have support from organisations such as RAFT, and I am honoured to offer mine in return.”

Sharon is raising funds for the Restoration of Apperance and Function Trust (RAFT)

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Join the big inequality debate

22nd February 2012

Why are women still the poorer sex?

Do some women really get sacked because they’re pregnant?

 When will we know that men and women are equal?

These are just some of the issues raised by our cultural partner EQUALS?. We were involved in their launch last year and have continued to support The Equals Campaign which aims to raise awareness of inequality and promote equality between the sexes. With International Women’s Day fast approaching, the Equals message is more important than ever. IWD celebrates the achievements of women across the world and gives them the recognition they deserve.

Equals is a partnership comprised of over 30 charities and arts organisations, including Funny Women, which were brought together by Annie Lennox. As dated as the idea of sexism or discrimination may sound, the facts and figures give us an idea of just how much inequality is still a major part of our society.

 -Women hold only 19% of the world’s parliamentary seats

- Women make up 24% of the people in mainstream broadcast and print news

- One in three women will experience violence at some point in their lives

Visit www.weareequals.orgto join the big inequality debate and celebrate the 101^st International Women’s Day on 8^th March. IWD won’t be celebrating their anniversary alone as it also marks the 10^th year of Funny Women. We are marking the occasion with our biggest Comedy Challenge to date. See HERE for more information on our 10^th Anniversary Challenge.

After International Women’s Day we will be at WOW (Women of the World) Festival from Friday 9^th to Sunday 11^th March. See HERE for more detais.

 

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WOW! We’re back!

21st February 2012

 

We enjoyed last year’s WOW (Women of the World) Festival so much that in March, we’re coming back!  The festival is a celebration of women across the globe with live music, talks, debates, theatre, film and of course some fabulous comedy all taking place at London’s Southbank Centre from Friday 9th – Sunday 11^thMarch.

We will have a Funny Women stall in the market place over the weekend, so drop by and say hi any time from Friday 9^th- Sunday 11^th March. It was fantastic to see so many Funny Women supporters come to visit us last year, we’d love to see you again and meet some new faces.  This year’s Funny Women Awards is just around the corner and in the spirit of uncovering new talent, we will be holding a workshop as part of the Festival. This is the perfect opportunity to gain some invaluable tips on things such as performance and public speaking which can be applied to stand up comedy and everyday life. So whether or not you wish to enter this year’s Awards, you can come along to this fun and informal workshop and leave with something really useful. Who knows, you may even unlock a hidden talent!  

Back by popular demand, we are happy to announce that we will also be holding a Pan Asian Comedy Showcase in association with PAWA - Pan Asian Women's Association. This show aims to challenge the traditional stereotype of submissive and silent Pan Asian Women and represent them in a way that reflects how their culture interacts with today’s life in modern Britain. We’re pleased to welcome back the bubbly and talented Sajeela Kershi as host. Sajeela also makes up half of double act Asian Provocateurs who will grace the stage along with some fantastic acts.

Also performing will be Emily Lloyd-Saini with her musings on being, in her own words, ‘a little bit brown’. Emily was a Finalist in last year’s Funny Women Awards. Introducing Precious Jade, the UK’s only half Chinese, half East End psychic agony aunt! We also have a special performance from Kish Modasia who was introduced to the world of stand up through last year’s Funny Women Challenge. After performing comedy to raise money for charity she discovered her love of entertaining the masses.

Headlining the show is Ria Lina who will bring musical comedy to the stage at WOW Fest. Armed with a ukulele, her dry wit and impeccable timing is sure to be a hit.

Our Pan Asian showcase will take place on Saturday 10^thMarch from 5pm-6pm.

We will be holding two workshops over the weekend – Saturday 10^thMarch 3-4pm and Sunday 11^thMarch 12-1pm.

Both our Pan Asian Showcase and Workshops are included in the WOW Festival day and weekend passes available HERE

 

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Leicester feedback proves the pudding

18th February 2012

 

Funny Women celebrated in style at the first of its regional 10^th Anniversary events, a reception and showcase during Dave’s Leicester Comedy Festival earlier this week. 

Festivals provide audiences with a multiplicity of choice so it’s very important for us to ensure that women’s voices are heard amongst the cacophony of male-ness that still pervades many of these regional events.

During a radio interview on BBC Radio Leicester ahead of the show, founder Lynne Parker was challenged on why women feel disadvantaged on the circuit. "A lot of women still find the circuit a hostile and intimidating environment," explains Lynne. "Although there is a ‘breakthrough’ point when gender ceases to matter.  While we continue to promote and develop female talent at our shows and workshops we are also ensuring that some sort of ‘quota’ is presented to promoters and producers. In an ideal equal world, there should never again be a reason for anybody to say that women aren’t funny."

The proof is always in the pudding of course and we can wax lyrical about how wonderful we are and what we’ve achieved over the last 10 years, but nobody says it better than a customer.  So hear it from the front line:

“I just wanted to say thank you so much for the workshop at Leicester, we really enjoyed it and found it truly inspirational. For me it gave me the confidence to pursue a character that has been lurking in the back of my mind for some time, hence I do believe xxx has been born. Once again thank you.” 

Debbie Baisden, workshop attendee.

“It was so good to meet you last night and I really enjoyed Suzy & Lara, such funny women! I thought it was so brilliant how Lara took the very serious subject of Alzheimer’s and so beautifully given which in turn gave us permission to laugh... very clever!”

Elaine Pantling, Laurielorry.