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. No, not the alarming lack of taste or indeed common humanity that must have informed the “design” choices of roadside sleeping holes – sorry, “hotels” – but rather, a huge expansion in the types of act we’ve seen along our merry way.
This year, as the competition shapes up to be our biggest yet, 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 – and fyi, still amazing – 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.
Double act Domestic Goddi reached the final last year
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’ll be launching the first ever Funny Women Variety Award as part of the Funny Women Awards and alongside our prestigious original accolade (which will be awarded to the funniest new stand up we’ve scouted). Sponsored by the Leicester Square Theatre, who are nothing short of fabulous and who we heart BIG TIME, the winner of this new title will snatch up the opportunity to perform a full show in their Basement space in early 2011. We know – wow. And as if this wasn’t enough, rumour has it the trophy presented on the night will be something rather special too… All we’re saying is, the words naked, bronze and dwarf may or may not have been mentioned. By them, not us. Obviously.
So, keep September 20th free, and get booking your tickets for what’s gearing up to be the comedy calendar’s event of the year!
