Comedy Bursary

Pictured above: some of the great female acts who have performed with us over the years

Bursary for Female Comedians

The 99 Club is London’s biggest employer of stand-up comics and has been awarded London’s Best Comedy Club at the Chortle Awards every year from 2011 to 2017.

In July 2017, we hosted a Female Comedy Bursary showcase featuring: Athena Kugblenu, Evelyn Mok, Maria Shehata, Arna Spek, Lauren Pattison. This was a great chance for the 99 Club to offer support to some of the highly talented female comics out there at a crucial early stage in their career development and we are now delighted to announce a second bursary for female performers taking their first full length solo show to the Edinburgh Festival, a major step in a comedian’s development. Shortlisted performers will appear in a showcase at one of our West End venues on Saturday 28th April 2018 and two comics will each receive an award of £500.

Over the years we’ve been lucky enough to host performances by amazing, highly talented female comics like Sara Pascoe, Ellie Taylor, Josie Long, Sarah Millican, Sarah Silverman, Luisa Omelian, Katherine Ryan, Zoe Lyons, Kerry Godliman, Roisin Conaty, Holly Walsh, Shappi Khorsandi (with Roisin, Holly and Shappi having been resident MC’s for us) and many many more.

We know that there will be many more talented female comics out there who we look forward to working with in future. We also know that it’s important to take concrete steps to support female performers.

In March 2017 and 2018, we were official partners of the UN Women’s HeforShe gender equality campaign, and ran a comedy show to raise both funds and awareness in conjunction with their HeForShe Arts Week.

HOW TO APPLY:

To apply, please complete the form below, providing us with a link to a youtube clip of yourself performing stand-up. This does not have to be material from the show you will be taking to Edinburgh this year. Clips should be around five minutes in length. Please also tell us about your show in 300 words or less. Applicants should not have previously performed a solo show at the Edinburgh Festival longer than 48 minutes in duration.

Please note that due to high volume of applications we will not be able to provide individual feedback. Shortlisted applicants will be contacted by 20th April.

Application deadline: 15th April 2017

Application Form

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Comedy Bursary

Application Form

Comedy Bursary

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