The sun was shining, the tickets were sold out and we had the pleasure of seeing another 10 fantastic acts take to the stage in the latest semi-final round of this year’s Funny Women Awards at the Brighton Dome Pavilion Theatre on Saturday.
Pure stand-up reigned supreme and we put not one but two worthy winners though to the final in September.
The first victor was Cerys Nelmes, who grabbed the audience by its proverbial balls from the minute she stepped on stage, making sure that she paid back our brilliant host Julie Jepson and some of the other acts for picking on her boyfriend in the third row! It was a mature performance, albeit a little long, and her ad libs and pick-ups from earlier acts made it memorable and more than worthy of her place in the final.
By way of a contrast our judges also put through Lucy Montague-Moffat from Dublin. Her ‘girly’ musings and sweet demeanour disguise a rich dark comedic seam that momentarily reveals itself amongst the assumed ‘fluffiness’ of her act. Again, a great finalist and the fact that two acts went through is a testament to the high level of talent which prevailed on Saturday night.
Two runners up have also made the shortlist for further consideration – Lucy Frederick, who’s been practising her furtive looks and heaving bosom with us for some time now at our regular Brighton Nights, and Gemma Goggin whose ‘love letter porn’ had the audience fully engaged! You might see both of them in the final yet – watch this space.
In terms of variety, we must pay particular credit to the Underdogs, who in the first rounds of the competition were one of our highest scoring acts. Sketch comedy doesn’t always transfer from a small venue to a larger theatrical stage and this time around we’ve had to lose them, but we are very much looking forward to working with the girls again in Edinburgh and wish them well with their own show.
Another notable was the legendary ‘Ivy Manilow’ (aka Dawn Coxwell) whose presence on Twitter has been brought to life in her ‘double act’ with the ghost of her sister Cissy! Full of brilliant pathos and brief theatrical moments, we hope to coax Dawn back to the stage later this year.
Last but not least, we must pay credit to the marvellous Julie Jepson who hosted the show with such love and energy. Julie made it into the final of the Funny Women Awards in 2006 and has proven herself to be a fine comic with a particular talent for hosting. We also enjoyed another headline set from Jade the Folksinger aka Sarah Adams who, since winning our first ever Awards in 2003 and gigging regularly on the circuit for several years, has hung up her blond wig and her dirndl skirt to concentrate on other projects. We’re proud to have Jade back in the Funny Women fold, however temporary that may be!
The next semi-final takes place this Friday at the Leicester Square Theatre. All details are HERE.
Pictured left to right: Gemma Goggin, Lucy Frederick, Cerys Nelmes and Lucy Montague-Moffat.
