My daughter ran into my room two days ago to say that she’d just heard Zoe Lyons being interviewed on BBC 6 Music promoting her forthcoming show at the Edinburgh Fringe.
The presenter asked Zoe about winning the Awards in 2004 and referred to a previous exchange he'd had with Sara Pascoe, runner up in 2008, about all female competitions. Sara had responded that it was important to give women ‘breathing space’ to perform.
The good news for us about this is that we’re on the radar and we’re very proud of the talent that’s come though the Funny Women Awards, whether or not they choose to embrace our pride. We just want successful women like Zoe and Sara to revel in their achievement because the comedy industry is such a tough call.
So, to answer the 6 Music question about why we still need an all-female comedy platform, here’s an overview.
We’ve stood the test of time despite our critics, loss of sponsorship, plus lack of funding and resources, and remarkably we're now in preparation to celebrate our 10th anniversary in 2012. We’re continually trying to find ways to fund our work supporting comedy development – currently generating income from a range of products and services with our corporate work, workshops, training and our first ever course being launched post Funny Women Awards final in October.
Now that we have paved the way for other female comedy brands and competitions, we are spreading our net and Funny Women has taken on an identity all of its own. Nowhere is this better exemplified than on these pages, in our blog, Tweets, Facebook posts and the positive feedback we receive on a daily basis.
It’s a testament to your success when other people start to challenge your brand. Competition is healthy and we're continually raising the stakes.
For example, the Funny Women Awards now has three main categories and we’re known for showcasing an extraordinary variety of comedy from stand up to sketch, character, musical comedy, novelty and (coming soon) great comedy writing. Our run at this year’s Edinburgh Fringe ahead of our Awards final in September will bear this out – and our programme is well rounded and exciting with some great theming and talent being showcased.
The energy required to do all this things as a small but feisty brand, is endless but we have a fantastic young and dedicated team both in the office and externally to advise on marketing and sponsorship.
We’re also privileged to have a 'life changing' charity partnership with Cancer Research UK and we've been working with them on Race for Life. We’ll be raising money for them at our Awards final on Monday 26th September – all finished off nicely with an amazing panel of judges with one or two names still to announce!
A long answer to a short question about why Funny Women exists and what we stand for, but I’m glad it’s still being asked. It's good to remember why you are doing something and explore whether or not the passion still exists. It does!
Lynne Parker
