At Funny Women we reckon we successfully dismissed the myth that women aren't funny at our 10th Anniversary Charity Challenge, where 10 women of diverse ages, backgrounds and professions took to the stage and performed comedy for the first time in their lives. This year we are giving men the chance to dispel the myth male humour lies only in aggressive banter in Funny Women Challenge the Men in the grand surroundings of Barber-Surgeons' Hall in the City of London on the evening of Thursday 13th June 2013.
With hits such as 'Bridesmaids' at the cinema, 'Miranda' on our TVs and Funny Women on our stages it's clear that appealing to women's humour hasn't been so popular since Barry Humphries got in touch with his feminine side and created Dame Edna Everage.
But aside from Dame Edna's drag and Eddie Izzard airing his transvestism on stage, or Graham Norton non-threateningly camping it up on our TVs, there are lots of ways men can be funny without relying on the offensive mother-in-law jokes of old. We have 12 men willing to take up this challenge.
The men have been mentored by some of our favourite funny women, Brit Pop artist turned comic Rosie Wilby, improv extrordinaire Courtney Cornfield, comedian Lucy Frederick, Funny Women Awards Finalist Janet Bettesworth, Funny Women Awards winner 2012 Gabby Best and businesswoman and comedian Julia Streets – who will also host the night's events. Julia will be joined in hosting duty by former Erotic Review editor and 2012 Charity Challenge winner Rowan Pelling.
A gaggle of male Challengers of all kinds of professional backgrounds from city slickers, to public speakers and music producers will be waiting in the wings to make you laugh with their female friendly wit. You can see who will be flexing their newly found comedy muscles, all in aid of their favourite chosen charities HERE. We at Funny Women are delighted that the beneficiary charities include a number of medical and women's charities that are close to their (and our) hearts.
The training for this event has shown us how men can achieve much from learning about how women use humour. This challenge is unfamiliar ground for our contestants and no doubt the experience will help them understand the difficulty some women come up against when trying to find their voice in a professional capacity. Helping to open up new communication channels with humour can help us all in the workplace, male or female. With this challenge – everybody wins!
Tickets for the night are available now, and include a wine reception and delicious canapes as well as the comedy. You can buy your tickets for this fantastic event HERE – get 'em quick!
Pictured: The men in training, The Barber-Surgeons' Hall
