Our Lynne’s been getting quite a bit of exposure on the airwaves recently and gaining a reputation as something of commentator on all things comic. Please read her own account of her interview on The World Service, including her call to female comics to enter FHM’s Stand Up competition.
“No sooner had I finished off an on air spat during the World Service’s lunchtime news round up, Newshour, on Monday 16th August with the curiously named Piers Hernu, who boasts a background as a city trader, gold smuggler, commentator on ’laddism’ (whatever that is) and former editor of uber lads mag FHM, I then received a missive from FHM itself. Could we encourage our Funny Women Awards entrants to enter their comedy competition, Stand Up Hero?
The blurb read:
“FHM Stand-Up Hero, is the widest, most accessible, most prestigious most entertaining competition in the UK, with the biggest comedy prize ever.
The competition, hosted by Australian comic Brendon Burns, will be made into a unique series of programmes co-created by Steve Coogan’s top TV comedy production company Baby Cow and Signal TV. It will be broadcast on ITV4 later this year.
The show follows a successful pilot broadcast by ITV4 in February hosted by Ed Byrne and starring Dara O’Briain, Jason Manford and John Bishop.
As well as performance highlights, the series will cover the best (and worst!) of the online entries and feature candid behind-the-scenes footage of the contestants.”
All very impressive and a fabulous prize but it’s an extension of the comedy boys club again! This is not in any way female friendly and why should women enter a competition run by a magazine that does its best to objectify women and dumb them down rather than celebrate their contribution to society and culture?
Well, of course you should all enter and show the laderati what comedy is all about– it would be great if a woman triumphed above all the inevitable blokey male comics who will be beating a path to Youtube with their knob and wank jokes.
What makes me really angry though is that a relatively new competition like this (and there are already many established and respected comedy competitions for box sexes) should get the support of the media when we’ve all been trying for years to get air time – it just perpetuates the myth that comedy is inherently a masculine domain and when it comes to the crunch, they will back a man rather than the hundreds of brilliant women we’ve seen over the last eight years. I hope a woman wins.”
Please listen to the interview here
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0091k89#-
