Magazine

First two heats set the standard high

The 2012 Funny Women Awards have got off to a flying start this week. We’ve been wowed by the commitment and talent of our first entrants and are very grateful to them for leading the way in these early heats.

We made our Funny Women debut at two new venues this week too! On Wednesday we were at the Betsey Trotwood in London’s Clerkenwell. We love the feel of the place, we were well provided for technically and there were very good vibes for comedy virgins! We enjoyed a real mix of stand up and musical comedy, three acts on their first ever gig, two Aussies, one Austrian and a novelist! Where else would you get such a mix of women?!

On Thursday we had our debut gig at the Green Carnation in Soho. It was a full house with a lively supporting audience of friends and comedy punters all up for a great night out. Again – a great range of comedic talent with more of a focus on stand up than the previous heat, and again, two acts on their first gig ever!

Other ‘firsts’ included 2012 Funny Women Awards finalists Sarah Callaghan and Emily Lloyd-Saini as hosts for each show. As our remit is to support and encourage women, we love to get acts we’ve got to know through the competition to try out new skills. Sarah is a ‘cheeky chappesse’ of host with a ryness that keeps her audience on its toes. While Emily is seemingly all charm and loveliness there's a dark edge to her humour which our Thursday audience particularly enjoyed. We can’t wait to see them in action again!

So, the standard is definitely set for 2012 – after 10 years it’s interesting to see how much the entry level has changed. Even brand new and ‘first time’ acts are coming to our stage with a carefully defined package and although some of them need to fine-tune their material and get more gigs under their belts to deal with presentation skills, blocking and choice of material, we are so proud of these women for performing.

So if you’ve been thinking about entering and not yet taken the plunge, do it, NOW!

ENTER HERE.

Our next stops are Dublin and Manchester and we just know that humour is a staple in both of these cities! If you live in Ireland or the North West we have a few places left in both heats – you’ll also get some wonderful free goodies from our main Award sponsor, Benefit Cosmetics! Read about this HERE. What’s not to like?!

For dates of all our upcoming heat dates visit HERE.

Pictured: Awards heats hosts Sarah Callaghan, top, and Emily Lloyd-Saini.