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Latest items? Unedited? Fringe Report Uncut
Funny Women 2004 Final
Verdict: Comedy Competition Final
Edinburgh 04 White Belly - 23.15pm (00.15am) - 22-28 Aug 04
Funny Women At The Fringe is 7 nights of 1-hour Funny Women Shows featuring up to 4 comics - including Jo Caulfield, Gina Yashere, Julia Morris, Lucy Porter, Janey Godley, Sarah Kendall, Miranda Hart, Shazia Mirza, Susan Murray, Brandi Borr, Jo Jo Sutherland, Ayesha Hazarika, Jade the Folk Singer, Zoë Lyons. See Funny Women Website
Contacts: Underbelly Press Officer: Penny Sims t 0870 745 3078. Funny Women Producer: Lynne Parker t/f 020 8744 1750 - m 07973 470 577 - lynne@funnywomen.com.
London - The Comedy Store - Monday 12 July - 2004 Final:
The Comedy Store bubbles over with the bustle and excitement of the Funny Women competition final compered by Jo Caulfield.
The heat and tension are almost palpable as performers, friends, families and an impenetrable battery of press (punctual press officers) jostle for space. Anyone arriving late at this venue can expect to spend the evening with their head pressed to the ceiling in a seat that only an athlete could climb into with grace. I know (writes Cecilia Holmes). Big apologies to Sarah Ledger and Roisin Conaty for missing their performance – max write-up next time.
Funny Women was set up to promote women in stand-up, a much-needed voice in a predominately male arena. Tonight’s final climaxes a series of competitions this year scouring the UK for talented people – and the packed crowd are not disappointed. 10 finalists give a unique and creative display of wide-ranging comedy that keeps the room raucous. The consensus is that the standard is even more honed and tuned than last year.
Jo Caulfield - remarkably relaxed and down-to-earth - sets the atmosphere with light and witty banter. Professionally, she avoids over-plugging her own material - delightful though it is.
Sarah Ledger (not seen)
Roisin Conaty (not seen)
Susan Hanks. A spontaneous comic with good story-telling ability. A creator of visual pictures. It’s easy to relate to school and French lessons - she describes the scenarios well. Even when her top momentarily slips down, it doesn’t put her off her stride. A professional in the making.
Live! At The Mausoleum (Cicely Giddings and Abigail Burdess) . Two comics delivering weird and proverb-style encounters that hark back to things said at school. If a man is found hanging from a tree with a pool of ice below his feet, how is this? They deliver the stories with a comic twist, in a way of speaking reminiscent of Peter Sellers in China Story. A Monty Pythonesque quality runs through, as they bang saucepans in a truly eccentric piece of English humour – Americans may not understand.
Zoe Lyons. A strong performance from many angles. Good visual story-telling using mime and easily-relatable experiences that engage the crowd immediately. She has a comedic face. Concise gags, mixed with direct questions to the audience, get everyone laughing. A comic with a self-confident and natural flair for conveying ideas; and a memorable ending. An impression of Cherie Blair’s face after too much Botox keeps many people laughing during the interval - and the stampede to the bar.
Janice Phayre. Refers to her Irish roots - ‘I don’t build the roads and I’m not a builder’ as she swiftly turns to reveal a perfectly perfectly white crack above her low-strung jeans. The builder’s-bottom gag is a good warm-up for a seemingly nervy-sounding comic. Her breathy, excitable delivery continues at a fast pace as she recounts descriptions of ‘not ever having an orgasm with a bloke’. A very convincing display of relating a secret that no-one has heard before - to an audience agog for more. It’s refreshingly crude, but her voice is soft, and it sounds good with an Irish accent.
Bridget Christie. The good-girl type with a penchant for the dry and ironic side of humour. She makes observations about her home town and the people of Gloucester. Her West-Country accent and persona keep it real. A strong contrast to her stage-image comes at the end with a wonderfully dirty punch-line. It has everybody laughing and provides a delicious taste of the unexpected.
Lindzi Germain. A crude and very up-for-anything Liverpudlian girl with a big and powerful stage presence. She has the voice of a forty-fags-a-day country-and-western singer who could definitely carry a tune across Wembley Stadium. The material is delivered in an assured and confident manner, often with her arms relaxed over the microphone stand. There’s no sign of nerves from this lady. Potential hecklers wouldn’t dare interrupt her - though she’s probably a pussycat at heart.
Anna Crilly. A dry and observational comic who keeps up her stage persona consistently. Her opening line about being Maxine Carr gets people hooked into her story-telling straight away. Her delivery is along the lines of Jack Dee’s in its minimalism – and is appreciated by the male contingent in the audience (yes, there are men here). The spoken pace is unique. She keeps some of her comments to the absolute moment, which is impressive – mentioning for example the prize money for the final. The audience loves the spontaneity.
Millie & Tillie (Jemma Freudenbergmorphet & Josie Stuart). A cabaret-style and wordy act - two girls who play many roles in perfect unison. They have the ability to speak in tandem and still be understood, and show great potential as a duo that can go from strength to strength. A very strong display of characters, eg a man and woman depicting the dos and don’ts of dating. Plenty of mime; both are physically comedic in their approach. They also play a pair of cleaners - their uniform speech mesmerizes.
There’s a great finale from Jade The Folk Singer (Sarah Davies) – last year's winner. In character - with blonde wig and hippie clothes – Jade gets the audience to participate straight-off with some of her filthy, heart-warming lyrics. The words weave through a set of songs which could make a bloke’s jaw drop to the floor if spoken out of context. Vaginas and fisting (your mum fisting your boyfriend) are padded round a beautiful piece of guitar-music. The audience takes it on the nose - another style of delivery, and they might not be so accommodating.
Tonight’s winner is Zoe Lyons.
All proceeds for Funny Women go to charities dealing with women’s issues. Funny Women events will be staged with some of the finalists for a full week at the Edfringe 04.
Cast Credits (alpha order): Finalists: Abigail Burdess, Bridget Christie, Roisin Conaty, Anna Crilly, Jemma Freudenbergmorphet, Lindzi Germain, Cicely Giddings, Susan Hanks, Sarah Ledger, Zoe Lyons, Janice Phayre, Josie Stuart. MC - Jo Caulfield. Headliner - Jade The Folk Singer (Sarah Davies).
Company Credits: Sponsor: Babycham. Technical Operation - Venue Staff. Producer - Lynne Parker. Media - Eugenie Tham. Promoter - Christian Knowles (CKP). Funny Women At The Fringe sponsors: Babycham, Lee Cooper, Avon and Handbag.com.
END
(c) Cecilia Holmes 2004
reviewed Monday 12 July 04 / The Comedy Store
Fringe Report (c) Fringe Report 2002-2012
www.fringereport.com
