This is what a funny woman looks like!

Got the name, got the T-shirt! And just where did August go?! ?It was fast and furious and despite the patchy British weather, I had a lovely few days up in Edinburgh launching The Glitter Project, ran another Funny Women Summer School, helped celebrate a good friend’s milestone birthday and squeezed in a short break with my family over the bank holiday. ?

In my last newsletter I announced that Funny Women CIC had received funding from the National Lottery through Arts Council England and later this month we will be proudly starting work on The Glitter Project – Part 2: ‘A Safe Place’. ??

We launched this initiative during Edinburgh Festival Fringe funded by the BBC Comedy Grant and Russells Solicitors and, realising how important mentoring is for performers, writers and creators at grassroots, the opportunity to carry things forward with the ACE funding is timely.? This was further endorsed by being awarded the Jones Bootmaker Edinburgh Comedy Awards Panel Prize , which we were very proud to share with the other four very deserving nominees.

Huge thanks to our Fringe mentors Rachel Creeger , Pauline Eyre and Louise Leigh who ran two more Meet the Mentors events and ‘open mics’ during the Fringe, and to the management and marketing team Kirstin Miller , Rosana Jimenez , Eleni Young and Angela Pearson . This was a fantastic team effort and welcome recognition for everybody involved. ?

Even more poignant as I have seen the comedy industry change over the last 22 years since I created Funny Women, but unconscious bias is still prevalent in the world of entertainment with women and those who identify as female continuing to face invisible barriers and sexism.

On that topic, I was proud to be asked to be a special guest, albeit appearing on a big screen like the Wizard of Oz at Dean Street Townhouse, for the screening of Sorry/Not Sorry hosted by Don't Panic London | Certified B Corp .?I was away with the family but this is a topic close to my heart so took time out to participate and be interviewed by Georgia Stephenson , see below!

This groundbreaking documentary film explores the behaviour, downfall and then the 'rehabilitation' of comedian Louise CK back to the comedy scene?after he was ‘outed’ by female comics for inappropriate and sexually predatory behaviour (I’m being polite here). ?I talked to Georgia about the misogyny that still exists in the entertainment world despite the revelations and publicity surrounding Weinstein, Brand and more. ?This begs another whole post and even a book chapter!?

On a lighter note,?I was honoured to help celebrate Tracey Barr ’s 60th Birthday.? She is a very dear friend and unsung hero who has seen me through some pretty tricky times.? As chair of Funny Women’s non-executive board of directors, her guidance and wisdom are particularly important as we embark on our autumn schedule. ?We are lucky to have her.

I met Tracey through Sister Snog , a tribe of amazing women set up by Hela Wozniak-Kay around the same time as Funny Women was born. I’ve met many amazing women like Tracey through this organisation who I have worked with, laughed with and forged enduring friendships.

?Networking has always been important to me and I’ve been fortunate to meet some incredible women through organisations including Savvitas , Women in PR , Women In Journalism and, more recently, The Trouble Club . ?You definitely reap what you sow when it comes to getting seen and known and, even though people still think that Funny Women is my ‘side hustle’ after 22 years, networking has helped me to get funding, sponsorship and work to keep this very unique business going.

Back to work this autumn with another round of funding applications to complete and a new business plan to write with the support of Create South East .? I am revisiting my pre-Covid ambition to scale up and build the consultancy side of the business. I'm delighted to be a part of the latest cohort and look forward to meeting some of my fellow creative business owners later this month in Southend.

?Our Funny Women workshops and courses continue to be popular and the next online Comedy Crash Course takes place from Monday 16th to Friday 20th September.? As ever I’m joined by some brilliant facilitators to help you find your funny bones and build your confidence around using humour. Book ahead - this is a particularly good introduction to comedy without leaving the house!

Next month I'm heading out to Amsterdam to run my Stand Up to Stand Out workshop on Saturday 12th October and be reunited with the wonderful Rosana Jimenez , who wears many hats including being our Funny Women producer in mainland Europe. Roxy joined us in Edinburgh for the launch the Glitter Project and it's her fantastic images that grace many of our events and initiatives .

If you've got this far, thanks for reading! I'll leave you with some happy faces from our Funny Women Summer School at the The Groucho Club Ltd.

Have a wonderful September!

All best - Lynne x

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