Did you know there’s now an Old Comedian of the Year competition? I for one did not.
This particular award is brand new for 2015 (the irony), and is open to comedians over 35 who’ve been performing for at least five years. This year’s competition has just finished, which means I really missed the boat. Shows were held at the Museum of Comedy – which I’m a little bit fascinated by – and the Leicester Square Theatre.
Finalists included our dear friend Lynn Ruth Miller, who at 81 is still showing us young’uns how it’s done. She wasn’t the only female in the final, with Jo Ogden and Sam Savage taking some well-deserved spots
Given my history of tearing into press releases and bringing you snark in abundance, you might think I’d be raring to rib this particular contest. Awards for the over-35s? Do they include slightly cheaper car insurance for a year? But actually, I sort of love this idea
Obviously I don’t have any issue with comedy awards that have slightly stricter requirements in terms of age or gender. Look at the Funny Women Awards – the clue is right there in the name. It’s for women. We’ve been battling the double issue of a lack of female representation and some women comics being considered ‘too old’.
And I work in an industry where you can easily be cast off as over the hill at 28. If you haven’t made it to Creative Director by 35, you just haven’t made it at all. With every passing day, it’s getting a bit more personal.
It looks like there’ll definitely be an Old Comedian contest for 2016, and we’ll keep you posted. Here’s hoping there are at least seven more after that so I can finally enter.
