Over the summer there’s been a whole lot of talk about winning and losing. It started with the Football World Cup in Russia and the Wimbledon Tennis Championships when some mighty sporting titans ‘lost’ out and, in my particular stratosphere, this culminated when the awards were dished out at the Edinburgh Festival. It made me realise that winning and losing is a major part of the crazy compressed world of the Fringe that those of us inhabit every August.
In actual fact, nobody really loses and I believe that there’s a lot more to be gained from being gracious in defeat. Taking our lead from the summer’s sporting occasions, Serena Williams won our hearts when she lost out to Angelique Kerber in the Wimbledon Ladies Final and Gareth Southgate the England football team manager displayed a depth of dignity and generosity that transformed the sport’s profile this summer.
Edinburgh was much the same. I went up with my usual trepidation, expecting to be invisible in the jostling mayhem of performers, writers, producers, television executives and marketers all trying to get seen, heard, cut deals and make a name for themselves at the world’s largest arts festival. Instead, I was met by a warmth and welcome that made all the struggles and efforts of keeping Funny Women going over the last 18 months worthwhile.
It was also a pleasure to see so many of our alumni from the Funny Women Awards get the recognition that they deserve, with four or them in the running for Best Newcomer Award at the 38th Edinburgh Comedy Awards – Sindhu Vee, Sarah Keyworth, Maisie Adam and Olga Koch. They were pipped to the post by Ciarán Dowd and the main award went to a worthy woman, Rose Matafeo with Felicity Ward and Sara Barron both receiving nominations for Best Comedy Show and Best Newcomer respectively. Women really were in the frame this year.
I never walked anywhere without bumping into a friendly face and having a chat in the street, and was surprised at how many people I now know in the industry. OK the passes are a bit of a giveaway (let me have my moment…) but I didn’t wear them all the time! This year was the most collaborative and welcoming Fringe I have ever experienced and I have come home full of hope for the future of Funny Women.
We have earned our crust too. Support from Starling Bank meant that we were able to have our whole team on site to see and review over 80 female shows here on the website, present five wonderful shows at the Assembly Rooms in the extraordinary pop up street venue, the Blue Room, and run a Stand Up to Stand Out workshop and a panel discussion at Fringe Central.
If I could give out my own awards this year, these would go to the fantastic Funny Women Team who work far and beyond their call of duty to ensure that we have a presence and stay true to our mission to support women in comedy and grow our community. Particular thanks go to Karen Rosie, Becky Singh, Kate Stone, Catherine Royle and Mariana Feijo who were the best team ever. Jointly we have provided a platform for some amazing funny women over the last few weeks.
So, who cares about winning? England didn’t win the world cup, Serena didn’t win Wimbledon and most of us didn’t walk away with an award from this year’s Edinburgh Fringe. In truth, nobody wins or loses here and the taking part bit IS really important. This applies in sport, the arts, media, politics, business and more. Sitting on your backside moaning about what you could or should have done doesn’t win you any prizes. You win by actually DOING it!
Start your autumn by being involved in some way. Support those of us who put on events by buying a ticket, cheering from the sidelines, commenting on social media and reading and even writing reviews. This IS taking part. No apologies for the cliché here – you have got to be in it to win it.
Our coverage of the Edinburgh Fringe came to you with the support of Starling Bank, the mobile-only bank that takes your money seriously. Through their campaign #MakeMoneyEqual, Starling is promoting the often difficult conversations about money and giving women a voice.
