For some reason, when I introduce myself people are compelled to tell me that they aren’t funny as if I’m expecting them to start cracking jokes. I don’t and I’m not that judgemental.
In this odd context, I often diffuse the situation by ‘joking’ about myself, commenting that if I had a £1 for every person who told me that they aren’t funny I’d be a wealthy woman!
I created Funny Women over 20 years ago to give women and underrepresented minorities a voice through comedy both professionally and personally. I did this in response to being told by a comedy promoter that women aren’t funny and, instead of it being an ‘in and out’ project, comedy has taken over my life.
For full disclosure, I don’t identify as a ‘comedian’ but I do know that can find my funny when I switch off my internal editor and relax into a conversation or creative exchange. A little bit of humour can go a long way in certain circumstances.
I am all the ‘richer’ for my experiences but I’ve reached the point where I’ve got to call things out. It costs money and time to run this amazing organisation with its rich mix of community events and the Funny Women Awards.
Back to all those pounds that I’ve never had – let’s make it £1.50 for inflation purposes. In return, we can promise you some more fun in your life and you will make ours easier.
Become a Patron
Art needs patrons, people who appreciate art even if they don’t actively participate. By being part of a creative community and supporting it, it’s an important contribution to art itself, in all it’s forms including comedy. It is culturally relevant and reflects our broader society.
We know that there’s lots of you out there who love Funny Women, I know because I’m told this pretty much every day which is amazing. But love don’t pay the bills and your patronage is requested.
This is a simple process which begins at just £1.50 per month, or for a little bit more, you can get a free t-shirt or a free place one of my Stand Up to Stand Out workshops. We’ve introduced monthly Open House online networking events and offer discounts to our broader programme of events. All of this comes with the bonus ‘feelgood factor’ that your money is helping to keep our community going.
We would never expect you to give us anything without something good in return. We run the Awards, open mic nights, workshops and courses, workplace initiatives and networking events. Your £1.50 per month investment will go directly towards developing and growing our outreach programmes, paying people to run things, perform, facilitate and keep the new talent pipeline flowing.
Plus you will be supporting all the amazing volunteers, producers, performers, writers and creators who ‘invest’ their time and energy to keep things going.
Please check out what’s on offer over on our Patreon page, join the free trial, and decide on which tier suits you best. All Patrons will get access to exclusive magazine content and the monthly Open House online networking events.
Those taking part in the Amusing tier and upwards can get ‘merch’, Awards final VIP tickets and the free workshop.
AND, if this still isn’t floating your boat, please tell us exactly what you’d like to see from Funny Women over the next 20 years!
