Returning to Brighton for a bumper festival edition of The Glitter Project, this event features an INDUSTRY PANEL with experts covering comedy production, performance, media, mental health and wellbeing. This will be followed by a facilitated SPEED MENTORING session as part of the event programme. Early booking is recommended!
The panel will be hosted by Funny Women founder, Lynne Parker, as part of The Glitter Project – A Safe Place supported by funds raised from The Glitter Challenge. This takes place in partnership with Komedia, home of Funny Women’s longest running pro-gig in the UK.
Sarah ‘Scoop’ Cooper, founder of Pitchycoo, works with creative businesses to get their work into new rooms and in front of the right people. She brings a commercial lens to creative work, sharing practical tools, simple systems and fresh thinking to open up new opportunities and help people move their ideas forward.
Zoe Paskett is an arts journalist, specialising in comedy. She formerly covered comedy for the Evening Standard and wrote for Funny Women, and now runs LMAOnaise Comedy, a publication focused on recommending and uplifting the best new comedy in the UK.
Lu Jackson is the tech superwoman and founder of Craic™, the leading technology hub and marketplace for the comedy industry and fans; and Craic Health, pioneering comedy-on-prescription, and connecting people via community-based comedy events and activities. Lu is also the founder of CRAFT (Comedy Representation & Artform Trust), the UK’s first dedicated national body to support the entire comedy industry ecosystem.
Nat May is a Brighton-based social media and marketing manager, with a background in film, TV and media. She began her career in commissioning at Channel 4, gaining insight into audience engagement and content strategy, before launching her own social media and marketing business eight years ago.
Annabelle Burdett-Coutts is a Programmer at Assembly Festival, one of the longest-running and most prestigious multi-venue operators at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. As part of a small programming team, she helps curate a programme of over 230 shows each August. She is passionate about discovering new work, building relationships with artists, and exploring how to put on as many accessible performances as possible by connecting people and projects at the festival and beyond.
Rachel Creeger is a multi-award-winning stand-up comedian, writer and host, and the only orthodox Jew on the UK’s professional comedy circuit. She has taken 4 critically acclaimed shows to the Edinburgh Fringe and is currently previewing her 5th. As regularly seen on BBC1 and heard across the BBC Radio network.
Misti Heslop is the Venues Coordinator and an Events Manager at Komedia Brighton, as well as working as an events rep at local venues and festivals, she also has a background of being a musician and performer. She is passionate about showcasing and celebrating underrepresented voices, and upkeeping a space that is accessible and inclusive.
Kay Stonham is an award winning writer, performer and script consultant with over 30 years of experience in TV, radio and film. Known for creating Robin and Wendy’s Wet Weekends, and Bad Salsa, (Radio 4 and Audible), her other writing credits include Harry Enfield & Chums, (BBC 1) Dani’s House (CBBC), My Family (BBC 1), Kerching! (CBBC), Alistair McGowan’s Big Impression, (BBC 1) Dead Ringers (Radio 4/BBC 2). She is a co-founder of Female Pilot Club, a freelance script consultant, and lecturer in screenwriting, and has recently completed her PhD thesis Reading the Rooms, an analysis of class and commissioning in TV and radio comedy.
Sydney May is an award-winning comedian, musician, inspirational speaker and experienced life coach. In 2025 she won the Komedia New Comedy Award in Brighton, and the Comedy Bloomers LGBTQ New Comedian of the Year. She also reached the semi-finals of the 2025 Funny Women Stage Award, recognised as one of our ‘Ones to Watch’, and the BBC New Comedy Award. Sydney is blind, having been born with retinoblastoma, a rare form of retinal cancer. She approaches every challenge that life throws her way including getting into stand up comedy!
Funny Women has been supporting and developing new comedy talent at grassroots with ground-breaking Awards, workshops, courses and open mic events for over 20 years. The priority is to build confidence in female and non-binary performers, writers and creators to give them the opportunity to pursue comedy careers.
The inspiration for The Glitter Project is Jo Fletcher-Cross, who was diagnosed with a grade 4 glioblastoma brain tumour in summer 2022 on the eve of her her Edinburgh debut. Read more about this here.
