Last week at the Edinburgh Fringe, we showcased nine amazing business women in The Glitter Challenge. They have been mentored, coached and ‘bootcamped’ over the last three months, ready to perform five minutes of live stand-up comedy for the first time in their lives at the world’s largest arts festival.
The result was a triumph and every bit as good as any of the shows at the festival, especially when there are 3,000 to choose from! We even got a review! Read it here in Lothian Life.
To recap we Challenged 10 women (one later had to drop out due to a health issue) who are not ‘jobbing’ comedians, to help us raise money for The Glitter Project, our community outreach programme supporting women’s health and wellbeing through comedy and creativity and founded in the image of Funny Women board director, Jo Fletcher Cross, after her incurable cancer diagnosis.
We launched this initiative at the Fringe last year thanks to receiving the BBC Comedy Grant, and went on to run the first programme around the UK with funding from the National Lottery through Arts Council England. When the money ran out, we had to get clever – our founder Lynne Parker came up with the idea of challenging professional women to perform comedy and this is the result!
Our Glitter Challengers are business professionals drawn from the creative industries, marketing, tech, accountancy, property management coaching and public speaking, all a rich breeding ground for comedy and generating funny material.
Here’s what they had to say about their Glitter Challenge experiences on social media.
‘Find a gang’ says Harriet. ‘Given that two weeks before the show, my material was all over the place and I was deeply regretting the whole idea, there was a strong chance that had it just been me going alone I might have backed out. But I didn’t do this alone.
‘I was joined by a group of insanely funny and talented women, we were in it together. We cheered each other on, laughed at each other’s jokes, gave genuinely useful feedback and panicked together.’
‘Some people wondered if I was having some sort of mid-life crisis,’ says Bev about her comedy journey. ‘Some thought it seemed like the obvious thing for a chopsy, opinionated 50-something to be doing!
‘One great thing about being the other side of menopause, is the tendency not to give a shit about what others think so comedy seemed like the perfect adventure! And it really was!’
‘Stand up has always been a yearning of mine but in all honesty talking about ‘one day’ doing stand up and writing copious material over the years that only ever saw the inside of one of my many notebooks is so much easier than actually doing it,’ explains Donna.
‘This is your reminder to do stuff that scares the bejesus out of you. On the other side is pure magic. I am officially hooked so watch this space.’
‘I decided it was time to push myself outside my comfort zone,’ says Robin who was inspired by our British Rail mantra of ‘See it, Say it, Sort it’.
‘As a communication coach by day, I’m a confident speaker, but proper ‘stand-up’ as the Brits say, was a whole new level of scary and humbling. The result was more than five minutes of laughs—it was new friendships, shared courage, and one of the most rewarding experiences of my life.’
‘Stand-up comedy looks like chatting. That’s the trick,’ observes Nishma. ‘Every single word has to earn its keep. No fluff. No filler. No hiding. And honestly, there’s no better place to do it than the Edinburgh Fringe.
‘This was the most alive I’ve felt in years, surrounded by thousands of people creating, experimenting, throwing themselves out there. The smell of rain on cobblestones at 2.00am, still buzzing from the show. Audiences who show up, listen, laugh, respect.’
‘I absolutely loved every second,’ exclaims Gemma Greaves. ‘Terrifying. Hard. Emotionally exhausting. Frustrating. Even brutal at times. Just some of the words I would use to describe my Glitter Challenge journey!
‘I am a big fan of going outside my comfort zone, but this was another level. I now have too much respect for comedians. Especially for my fellow Glitter Challengers. We rehearsed together. We grew together. We performed together and we bloody well did it together!! I am in AWE of every single one of them.’
Val is no stranger to the comedy stage, moonlighting as our Funny Women regional producer in Ireland. Her day job as an accountant belies her funny bones. She explains: ‘If you have an itch for adventure, fancy trying something new and challenging and scary and so, so, so rewarding.
‘Give it a go. What’s holding you back? I love that question…it really helps to clear the decks.’
‘I’ve been through a lot of change recently, and instead of hiding from it, I took it on stage at the Edinburgh Fringe,’ confesses Mel. ‘What surprised me was how freeing it felt. I’ve been more anxious in a boardroom than I was under the lights. Because stand-up isn’t about perfection or sticking to a script. I’ve never lived by a script anyway. It’s about being real, messy, human and letting people meet you there.
‘And people laughed. Not just at me, but with me. At breakups, sobriety, dodgy crystals, even a tantric massage gone sideways. And yes, the ecstatic dance. Me, stone-cold sober, trying to rave on cacao powder which is every bit as awkward as it sounds. Turns out nothing is too messy to be funny if you’re willing to tell the truth.’
Leading the tributes to our Funny Women Team Jaz writes:
‘It has been transformational and has delivered far above and beyond! Thank you for being our Head Girl Lucy Ryan! For holding us together and never letting us forget what this has all been about!
‘Your organisational skills are only matched by your patience Kirstin Miller! Thank you for being so calming even after you’ve had to repeat the same instructions several times! You’re the human Savlon of our group!
‘You are the driving force behind all of this Lynne Parker and so much more! Thank you for having crazy ideas and then going for it no matter what! You have a talent for bringing in wonderful people and have led us with the flair of a conductor leading an orchestra!’
The final word goes to our lead mentor, Lucy Ryan.
Best known to the world of entertainment as cabaret artist ‘Ivy Paige’, Lucy led our team of incredible comedy mentors to bring the 2025 Glitter Challenge cohort to comedy glory.
Speaking about the Challengers, Lucy says: ‘This challenge wasn’t just about stand-up comedy —it was about the courage, resilience, and determination that shines from within. You’ve shown me that in the most beautiful ways.
‘You’ve turned up. You’ve pushed yourselves. You’ve encouraged one another. And you’ve reminded me what happens when women support women: we rise higher, we shine brighter, and we create something that feels unstoppable.
‘Glitter isn’t just decoration—it’s a symbol. It clings, it spreads, it gets everywhere—and so does your energy, your commitment, and your light. I hope you carry that same glitter with you into whatever challenge you take on next.’
With grateful thanks to our amazing team of comedy mentors: Rachel Creeger, Monica Gaga, Louise Leigh, AJ Stubberfield, Pauline Eyre, Nic Lamont, Mariana Feijo and Sajeela Kershi; and our colleague Kirstin Miller for keeping us all on the straight and narrow!
The biggest thanks of all go to Lynne Parker, the founder and driving force behind Funny Women for her belief in women’s talent to be truly funny, her ability to make the seemingly impossible happen and creating this Challenge.
If you would like to sign up to take part in the 2026 Glitter Challenge, email info@funnywomen.com for more details, coming soon.
