Comedy's new Little Miss Dynamite wins 2009 Funny Women Awards
On Monday night we went down to The Comedy Store in London to film this year's prestigious final. Once we'd piled all our equipment in and soundchecked with the girls, we waited for the crowd to arrive with great anticipation!
And arrive they did - a total sell out night. Lynne Parker, producer and founder of Funny Women, was on the phone all day with countless requests for extra tickets. And they didn't stop once the show had started!
The great and good of the media world were there, with many top Industry judges including Sam Delaney the new editor of Heat Magazine, ex-PR Guru Lynne Franks and Comedian Stephen K Amos.
All 12 acts were impressive with a huge variety of styles and loads of talent. Miss London - real name Dionne Hughes - took 1st prize for her spirited and sassy set. A 20 year old student already being dubbed the Little Miss Dynamite of comedy, she started stand-up less than a year ago. And for all you singletons out there, heed her advice. There is more chance of finding a black girl in Hollyoaks than a decent guy in a club.
First runner up was Eve Webster, a young impressionist with a set that took us from drug addled Amy Winehouse to bossy Anne Widdicombe. Very talented lady - does an amazing Margaret Thatcher - and very sweet too.Second runner up was Jo Selby, with her fantastic Russian character Tatiana Ostrakova. She had us all in stitches. I still want to hear the greatest potato joke in the world!
The other nine acts taking part in the final were: Catherine Semark, Charlie Covell, Domestic Goddi - double act sketch comedy from Helen O'Brien and Genevieve Swallow, Elizabeth Mee, Giada Garofalo, Katarina Vrana, Marie Vagen, Rhona McKenzie, and Tania Edwards. Last year's winner Katherine Ryan treated us to a very funny set during the judges decision break, seemingly totally unaffected (mentally and physically!) by popping out a baby very recently. Amazing.Overall, it was a fantastic night of new talent, selected from 250 entrants from all over the country. Congratulations to everyone, it was a great night.
Previous winners of Funny Women include Zoe Lyons, Sarah Adams - now half of successful comedy duo Adams & Rea - and Suzy Bennett. Sarah Millican, Katy Wix and Anna Crilly have also entered!
UPDATE: Watch highlights and Miss London's set!
Comment number 1.
At 30th Sep 2009, snuffpuppy wrote:Hi Lucy, is there footage available to watch of the final? I couldn't make it on the night and would love to see clips of the finalists.
Cheers,
Snuffpuppy x
Complain about this comment (Comment number 1)