We’re keen to develop our brand in Greater Manchester particularly as the BBC has settled on the Quays and there is still a need for stage time for new and developing female comedy talent.
So the Kings Arms, Salford is a natural fit for Funny Women, being run by Zena and Michelle who set up and (still) run the Camden Fringe, and have supported us over the years when we’ve split our time between this fantastic London based festival and Edinburgh. It’s a formula that’s worked for us in the past and one that we’ll be looking at seriously for 2013.
Our first foray to Salford was for this year’s Awards back In July where we held a heat. Three of the women we saw on that occasion came back on Friday, two of them as finalists, when we kicked off our sparkly new ‘Manchester Nights’ under the guidance of ‘Mrs Barbara Nice’, aka Janice Connolly.
And what could be nicer for an array of fabulous new talent? Rubbing handbags with the likes of comedy royalty like our ‘Babs’!
We pulled out all the stops and had our winner, Gabby Best, from the recent Funny Women Awards – and both runners up Katie Tracey and Niamh Marron. Gabby performs as ‘Marijana’ the Croatian fitness guru with an improbable accent and some innocent observations on running a business with her incarcerated father and politics.
Niamh is waiving the flag for us over in Ireland where she is now our official winner! Plans are afoot to launch the Irish competition full tilt for 2013 with the hilariously brilliant Niamh, and her hair, at the helm!
Katie has had an extraordinary journey this year having shown up to compete in the Manchester heat and ending up as host! The act we booked didn’t show up and we encouraged Katie to take her first steps as an MC. She did so well, her performance securing her place in the semi-finals and the final where she went to take third place. We saw why again on Friday night and rumour has it, some big management scouts have already got their beady eyes on our Katie!
As well as the winners, we also featured the amazingly talented Amy Gledhill, famous for being ‘#nervous’ and advising the front row that her IBS might get the better of her, and them! Her comedy ‘masterclass’ is a tour de force and has also attracted the eye of the talent scouts. CBBC eat your heart out! Amy could perform a ‘Horrible History’ single handed!
Manchester based Diane Fitton always delivers – with her Girl Guide knife at the ready and her slightly more mature take on the dating scene, she’s a welcome addition to our bill and has the promise of bigger and better things to come.
Our headline spot went to the vocally talented Abi Roberts who manages to combine some spot on impressions with musical observations. Her ‘party piece’ about jazz hits a chord (sorry… several chords actually…) with our audiences from London to Brighton so she was assured a warm reception in Manchester.
Last but not least was our ‘Babs’. There weren’t enough people in the room for her trade mark crowd surf so we’ll build up to that next time! We had to pack her off early on the night bus as her cover got blown – her husband ‘Ken’ found out that she wasn’t staying over with Jean and Jean in Hebden Bridge! A slight panic then ensued as, Cinderella-like, ‘Babs’ managed to leave her bag behind in the rush. But good fairy Amy made sure of its safe return!
We’re looking forward to a safe return to Manchester. Look out for dates when we’ll be back at the Salford Arms and remember that we are starting to run our workshops up there too.
For more information on gigs and workshops in Manchester please email info@funnywomen.com and visit our events pages HERE.
