We know how funny women are here at Funny Women! Our community is teeming with comic talent and we want the rest of the world to know about this too.
According to a study by Unilever and the #SeeHer campaign when it comes to depictions of women in advertising, only 3% of ads show women in leadership positions, 2% show women being intelligent, and an even more lowly 1% show women with a sense of humour!
Together with our friends in some of the top advertising agencies and marketing networks, such stats back up the fact that women get a pretty poor deal, both on and off screen. Male creatives outnumber female creatives and a ‘Mad Men’ mentality still exists with women picking up the administrative roles and being edged out of the creative picture as soon as they start having babies.
Lynne Parker created Funny Women in 2002 in response to the fact that men were getting far more gigs on the live comedy circuit than women, and although we are still battling panel show inequality and the gender pay gap 16 years on, female comedy performers and writers are plentiful, prominent and successful.
So, this is a good basis for us to launch our new initiative, HERlarious, to get right to the heart of this issue. HERlarious celebrates and encourages comedy within the creative industries – from script writing to casting, confidence to selling work.
Where better to influence public opinion and showcase even more great female comedic and creative talent than by changing the face of how products and services are advertised. Using humour makes stuff memorable and fun to buy.
Our initiative will bring women and men working in the creative industries face to face with those amazing women who live, sleep and breathe comedy. Funny Women is a thriving community of female writers, performers, producers and directors who can help products and services to look and feel good in today’s highly competitive marketplace. HERlarious will provide a collaborative environment for comedians and creatives to meet and work together.
Our first HERlarious event takes place on Tuesday 9th October in central London. Details of the evening which combines workshops, networking, panel discussions and live comedy are on our event page here.
If you are a comedian and want to get involved with HERlarious, please email creatives@funnywomen.com or join our mailing list now to be one of the first to receive an invitation to take part.
Follow #HERlarious on social media too.
HERlarious is supported by:
