Funny Women finalist Alice Frick, along with with her partner Lauren Karl, started a monthly comedy show “Laughing Labia” in October 2012. Alice shares her thoughts with us at Funny Women.
Laughing Labia is a provocative title, of that there is no doubt. We chose such an incendiary title because we wanted to show that women are funny, provocative and are able to entertain the audience with a great sense of humour.
I moved from Austria to London two years ago because stand-up comedy in Austria is… in the basement. We have a lot of cabaret shows and one person shows (mostly by men), but no newcomers, no mixed or variety shows and definitely not enough women on the comedy scene. As a woman on a comedy stage I experienced a lot of misogynist comments as well as ‘tips’ from male colleagues and technicians who told me how I should dress and what I should look like to make my act funnier.
It took me a while before I stopped taking these comments seriously but in the beginning I tried to find ways to fit in to that male dominated picture of a ‘funny woman’. It had always been a dream of mine to host my own comedy night and show that women actually don’t need to wear certain clothes but only need a mic and a stage to be able to show that there is more to them than just a misogynist cliché.
Moving to the UK I have seen so many more female comics on stage, but I believe, still not enough. Most comedy stages are predominately male and you normally only find one woman out of ten acts. For this reason, I really appreciate organisations like Funny Women who support and feature all-female line ups. As a Funny Women Finalist I have met a lot of funny women through Funny Women. There are a lot of funny women out there, as it shows in my last sentence.
Laughing Labia is happy to have a great variety of female acts, from musical comedians to character comedians, burlesque acts as well as magic and pure stand-up comedy. We support national and international acts and are also happy that the audience appreciates the comedy and keep coming back. Come and see for yourself and laugh your labia off!
Date: Wednesday 17th April and every third Wednesday of the month
Time: 8.00pm
Venue: Candy Bar Soho, 4 Carlisle Street, London, W1D 3BJ
Line up: Alice Frick (Host) – 'exhuberant…perfectly pitched…' Three Weeks, Yvonne Radcliff, Rachel Gleaves, Lauren Karl, Jenny Beake, Cecilia Delatori
Tickets: £9 on the door, £7 with membership discount
Pictured: Alice Frick
