On Sunday 23rd September BBC Radio 4 broadcast 20 Years of Funny Women, celebrating 20 years of the Funny Women Awards. The show, which is available to listen to now on BBC Sounds, was presented by Kerry Godliman and featured interviews with founder Lynne Parker and ‘Matron’ of Funny Women Jo Brand. There were archive performances and interviews with Funny Women alumni, with everyone from the brightest new rising stars to household names such as Diane Morgan, Amy Gledhill, Rachel Parris, Desiree Burch, Sindhu Vee, Jessica Fostekew, Thanyia Moore, Zoe Lyons, Charlie George and Gemma Whelan, as well as all of the 2022 award winners, including double-award-winning Lorna Rose Treen.
The programme was commissioned by the BBC to celebrate the 20th year of the annual Funny Women awards, which has given a platform to new comedy talent since its launch in 2003. 20 Years of Funny Women was produced by Laura Grimshaw and production company Mighty Bunny.
The final will be recorded live on Thursday 28th September at the Bloomsbury Theatre in London, and Jo Brand presents highlights on BBC Radio 4 on Sunday 1st October at 7.15pm.