Help for female comedians in Ednburgh

Female comedians are to be offered mentoring at this year’s Edinburgh Fringe thanks to a new scheme from Funny Women.

Stand-ups including Rachel Creeger, Louise Leigh and Pauline Eyre will be giving advice on the festival under The Glitter Project.

It was inspired  by Jo Fletcher-Cross, a journalist, stand-up and one of Funny Women’s non-executive directors, pictured above, who was diagnosed with a grade 4 glioblastoma brain tumour in summer 2022 on the eve of her Edinburgh debut. 

She said: ‘My proudest achievements in life have been to spread joy, laughter and a little bit of glitter along my way. I’ve been honoured to work alongside some brilliant funny women throughout my career, and I’m delighted that The Glitter Project will provide many more with the tools and the courage to keep the laughter flowing for many years to come.’

Funny Women founder Lynne Parker said: ‘A longer-term goal is to create a Glitter Fund, an industry-wide initiative supporting those who don’t have the resources, accessibility, or financial means to pursue a comedy career.

‘Over 22 years I’ve seen so many talented and amazing performers, writers and creators go on to have huge commercial success so this is an opportunity for us to come together, support new talent and ensure gender parity in our industry.’

The initiative is backed by a  BBC Comedy Grant and entertainment law firm Russells. 

Details of the Edinburgh sessions are here, and female comics who want to join the team of mentors should email fwtheglitterproject@gmail.com

Published: 23 Jul 2024