Back in March, Woman's Hour revealed their annual Power List for the second time, celebrating the most influential women in Britain today. Last year we were so inspired by the announcement that we created our own Comedy Power List, and just like the BBC, we’ve brought the idea back for 2014! This year however, there’s been a bit of a twist…
Back in April, we put together our longlist of 20 women that we felt are the most influential in the comedy world at the moment. Whittling it down even to a list of 20 was hard (with lots of the Funny Women team’s own favourites narrowly missing the list), but we wanted our choices to represent the industry from all angles – be it comedians themselves, writers, directors, journalists, producers and commissioners. As our founder, Lynne Parker says: “Not so much a power list as an impact list. These are the women on stage, small screen, in print and behind the scenes who are making the difference and ensuring that women have a strong voice in comedy.” We felt that the best way to select our top ten was to ask our readers to share their views on who should make the shortlist – and luckily for us, you did in droves!
Here’s the countdown of the top ten most powerful women in comedy at the moment – as voted for by you:
10. Jessica Hynes (Actress and Writer)
Jessica is well-known for co-creating and starring in Spaced with Simon Pegg, Nick Frost and Edgar Wright, but her career since then has hardly missed a beat. Her acting career has been as prolific in theatre and film as it has on TV, and she’s been nominated for theatre-based Tony and Olivier Awards alongside BAFTA nods. She has just reprised the role of Siobhan Sharpe (last seen in 2012) alongside Hugh Bonneville in W1A.
9. Lucy Lumsden (Head of Comedy, Sky)
In 2009, Lucy was named Sky’s first Head of Comedy after 11 successful years at the BBC – as Head of Comedy Commissioning there she brought us shows like The Mighty Boosh, Nighty Night and Gavin and Stacey to name but a few. Before Lucy took up the helm, Sky had little track record of producing great comedy; eighteen months later, they’d won Channel of the Year at the Broadcasting Awards. Shows like Moone Boy, A Touch of Cloth, Hunderby, and Mount Pleasant are just some of Lucy’s successes at Sky – as a producer, she’s shaping and commissioning the comedy we watch, love and create.
8. Miranda Hart (Actress, Comedian and Writer)
Miranda is arguably one of the UK’s most-loved comedy personalities – her self-titled sitcom has earnt her four BAFTA nominations, three Royal Television Society Awards and four British Comedy Awards. Appearances in Call The Midwife have shown her ability to balance comedy and drama, she released an autobiography in 2012, and she even co-presented segments of the Diamond Jubilee Concert. Her 2014 arena tour is well on its way to selling out, and takes her back to stand up, where she began her comedy career way back in 2002.
7. Katherine Ryan (Comedian, Writer and Actress)
Since winning the Funny Women Awards back in 2008, Katherine's career has been constantly on the up. With a lot of furore surrounding the lack of women on comedy panel shows at the moment, we’re delighted that Katherine has been shattering their male-heavy quota with appearances on Never Mind The Buzzcocks, Mock The Week, 8 out of 10 Cats and Q.I., as well as guest-starring on sitcoms like Campus, Episodes and Badults, and even finding time to host the 2013 Funny Women Awards final. Phew!
6. Sandi Toksvig (Writer, Presenter, Comedian, Actress and Producer)
Sandi was appointed an OBE earlier this year for services to broadcasting – hardly a surprise, given the longevity of her career as a writer, presenter, comedian, actress and producer. Her list of credits is too long and varied to mention here, but she continues to be one of the most prominent faces of female comedy across all mediums and genres. Congratulations are also due – back in March, thousands of people helped to celebrate the renewal of Sandi’s vows to partner Debbie on the day that same-sex marriage was introduced in England and Wales.
5. Jennifer Saunders (Comedian, Writer and Actress)
Jennifer Saunders’ career has scooped her almost every major award you can think of, and has given us some legendary comedy performances (including Eddie in Absolutely Fabulous). Her writing credits encompass some of British comedy’s most notable credits (Ab Fab, Comic Strip and Jam & Jerusalem to name a few), as well as her long-awaited autobiography, Bonkers: My Life In Laughs, which flew off shelves in October 2013.
4. Caitlin Moran (Writer)
Although Caitlin Moran started her career as a journalist at the tender age of 16, her 2011 best-seller How To Be A Woman gained her a flurry of media attention – with it’s hybrid of feminist themes, autobiography and comedy musings, the book quickly sold well over half a million copies. Her follow-up, Moranthology, hit shelves in 2012, and How To Build A Girl is expected later next year. And on top of that, her sitcom Raised By Wolves (co-written with her sister Caroline) premiered it’s pilot in December 2013, and has recently been granted a full series by Channel 4.
3. Jo Brand (Actress, Comedian and Writer)
Jo Brand has shaped the face of female comedy since she first began her career in the mid-1980s. Her credits over the last three decades encompass too many critically-acclaimed works to mention, but we can’t miss a nod to her outing in Getting On – which she both starred in and co-wrote – which earnt her a BAFTA for Best TV Comedy Actress in 2011. She’s also made a special appearance at our BFF Launch Event, helping us to support women in comedy through Funny Women. With a range of future projects lined up, we think she’ll continue to be a big name for some time yet.
2. Olivia Colman (Actress)
Olivia is frequently as praised for her dramatic roles as her comedic ones – proven more than ever in the last year, which has seen her scoop not one, but two BAFTAs (for Accused and Twenty Twelve respectively). Having just wrapped up a new series of Rev, she’ll soon be back on our screens in gripping drama Broadchurch. We’ve loved Olivia in all of her comedy exploits – including Twenty Twelve, Green Wing, Beautiful People and Peep Show, as well as recurring spots in That Mitchell and Webb Look. And by the looks of it, all of you have too!
1. Bridget Christie (Comedian)
Misogyny (like shiny leggings) may have made a comeback, but Bridget Christie’s brand of feminist comedy is around to stay. She made it to the Funny Women Awards final all the way back in 2004, but in the last eighteen months her career has been nothing short of stratospheric: her Radio 4 show Bridget Christie Minds The Gap premiered in March 2013, and her upcoming book A Bic For Her is due to hit shelves in 2015. Most importantly though, her show of the same won the Fosters Comedy Award at last year’s Edinburgh Fringe, before hitting the Soho Theatre for three sell-out runs. She’s back this year with new show An Ungrateful Woman, and she took a substantial lead in our poll, placing her firmly at the top of our Power List. Congratulations Bridget!
Bridget was delighted to learn she was number one among our readers: "I didn't even know I was on the list! So it was great to find out I came top. Thanks for voting for me. What a lovely public you are."
We hope you enjoy our Comedy Power List, and a huge thank you to everyone who voted. You can see our full list of nominees here!
Isabel Dixon (@isabel_dixon)
