The 20th Anniversary Funny Women Awards Gala Final is set to take place on Thursday 28th September at London’s Bloomsbury Theatre, hosted by Funny Women’s very own ‘Matron’, Jo Brand. 

10 acts have now been selected from nearly 400 entries to compete in a live show for the prestigious Stage Award at the Bloomsbury Theatre. They are Blank Peng, Charlie Vero-Martin, Hannah Platt, Kate Cheka, Nikola McMurtrie, Rachel Baker, Sasha LO, Su Mi, Tal Davies and Victoria Olsina. 

Five Awards will be presented on the night and all winners and runners up will share a prize pot worth £5k sponsored by ITV, which includes cash, industry support and unique opportunities.

Leading the way and further expanding the global reach of the Funny Women Awards, the winner of the Content Creator Award will be announced on the night. This award is decided by public vote and gives a voice to amazing digital talent often overlooked by mainstream networks. There have already been over 20,000 votes for the top 20 creators. Voting for the 2023 shortlist remains live until Thursday 28th September, the day of the final -  voting link here: https://funnywomen.com/vote/ 

The Comedy Shorts Award, supported by London Short Film Festival, will be awarded to one of the top three finalists, chosen out of 120 submissions. Prizes for the winner include an exclusive showing of their film during the London Short Film Festival that takes place in January 2024.

The Comedy Writing Award, supported by Sky Studios, will be given to one of three finalists chosen from over 350 script submissions, a record breaking number of entries. The prize for the winner includes script development support from Sky Studios.

The Funny Women Industry Award, supported by The Comedy Crowd, was created to recognise the ‘behind the scenes’ heroines of broadcast and live comedy – the gag, sketch and additional material writers; producers, developers and creators who are at the forefront of television, radio and digital entertainment; and live comedy producers and promoters. 

This award is nominated by industry figures and the winner will be announced on the night. They will join Amy Annette (Winner 2022) Sophie Duker (Winner 2021) and Christine Rose (Winner 2020) in the Hall of Fame celebrating the talent and tenacity of the women performers, writers and creators, who have overcome the clearly disproportionate barriers to entry to succeed in this highly competitive field. 

Last year’s double award winner Lorna Rose Treen (who took both the Stage Award and Comedy Shorts Award) will be performing live at the Bloomsbury Theatre as part of our 20th anniversary celebrations after a triumphant sell out run at this year’s Edinburgh Fringe Festival. 

The annual Funny Women Awards first took place in 2003, with just 70 acts competing for one award. This year, over 1,500 performers, writers, film makers and creators, from across 14 different time zones, have entered or been nominated across the five awards, proving that Funny Women is an enduring and unique gateway into the world of comedy. 

As a non-profit organisation, Funny Women shows women from all walks of life how comedy builds confidence. Believing strongly in equal rights and opportunities for all; Funny Women has been empowering female-identifying voices for over 20 years, contributing to gender parity in the comedy industry and beyond. 

Funny Women founder Lynne Parker says: "I can't believe that this is the 20th year of our Awards and we are still moving goalposts! No time for a lie down! The increase in entries each year proves that there's still a need to showcase brilliant female and non-binary comedy, particularly at grassroots level. My work is not yet done…"

BBC RADIO 4 - 20 Years of Funny Women

On 23rd September a programme celebrating 20 years of the Funny Women Awards will be broadcast on BBC Radio 4. In 20 Years of Funny Women, Kerry Godliman presents archive performances and interviews with the biggest names in comedy including Funny Women alumni Diane Morgan, Zoe Lyons, Rachel Parris, Desiree Burch, Sindhu Vee, Jessica Fostekew, Charlie George, Amy Gledhill, Thanyia Moore and Gemma Whelan. Plus there are conversations with all of the 2022 award winners and interviews with Funny Women founder Lynne Parker and ‘Matron’ Jo Brand.

Archive on 4: 20 Years of Funny Women – 8.00pm on Saturday 23rd September, BBC Radio 4

GALA FINAL TICKETS: https://www.ucl.ac.uk/culture/whats-on/funny-women-awards-final-2023

Pictured: 2022 Award winners with Funny Women founder and CEO, Lynne Parker.