Are you the next Sarah Millican or Bridget Christie? Here’s your chance to show the world!
The Funny Women Awards began in 2003, and have helped to shape successful careers for many brilliant comedians, writers and filmmakers, such as Bridget Christie, Susan Calman, Katherine Ryan, Sara Pascoe, Zoe Lyons and Sarah Millican.
The awards answer the tired question of ‘are women funny?’ and continue to prove that this isn’t a topic that should need debating. The Funny Women Awards celebrate their fourteenth contest this month, with new categories and a new venue for the final in September.
“This year’s awards are getting a refreshing makeover” explains Funny Women founder, Lynne Parker, “with regional finals replacing semi-finals, and the winners going on to a prestigious final at KOKO in London. Each of the six Stage Award finalists will be mentored by an established comedian, with Sara Pascoe and Ellie Taylor among them.”
Since 2003 Funny Women has explored the country in search of the new female face of comedy, and seen over 2500 contestants go through hundreds of heats. This year the awards will visit Dublin, Edinburgh, Manchester, London and Brighton to scout out the best new talent.
Very funny Sara Pascoe has previously scooped up an award, and is delighted to be a part of this year’s competition: “I love women, I love funny ones the most and I’m so pleased to be part of something encouraging the new exciting generation as well as supporting the important work of Refuge”.
New categories have been added to the contest, including ‘Best Show’ which will highlight the impact women are making on full-length comedy shows. This will show off the 60+% increase in touring female comedians bringing their shows to the Edinburgh Festival.
“With an extra category and record breaking entries of the last couple of years, we are raising the bar even more this year” says Lynne Parker. “The regional finals for the Stage Award gives us the opportunity to present even more great new female talent across the UK and Ireland, and the equal status of both the Comedy Writing and Comedy Shorts Award, alongside the Stage Award, is another important development in terms of the competition. 2016 promises to be a very exciting year for female comedy.”
The Edinburgh heat takes place on 9 June at The Newsroom and the Regional Final takes place on Sunday 14 August, at Big Cave at Just The Tonic, during the Edinburgh Fringe
Register now here
The Funny Women Awards – Categories
Stage Award
Comedy Writing Award
Comedy Shorts Award
Best Show Award
For full details on how to apply, deadlines, and categories, please visit the Funny Women website, or tweet @funnywomean #FWAwa
‘I highly recommend it, it’s a great place for women to hone their act’ – Miranda Hart
‘I can’t wait to see what a great bunch of women this year produces’ – Aisling Bea
Punchline 