X and Y: The First Women in Comedy Festival

The premise of the first UK Women in Comedy Festival is the subject of much debate, but either way, it's happening, and in a big way, with gigs all over Manchester throughout the month. We choose some chuckles

Preview by John Stansfield | 01 Oct 2013

Despite this being a stellar year for women at the Edinburgh Fringe, with Adrienne Truscott and Bridget Christie claiming the big prizes for their shows with an unashamed feminist backbone, there are still those who believe women have no place being funny: an opinion a good few women intend to change, as they celebrate those born without a Y chromosome who are in the business of making us laugh at this month's Women in Comedy Festival, running 1-27 Oct across Manchester. The first of its kind in the UK, the festival intends to showcase the best female stand-up, comedy theatre, spoken word and improvisation, featuring around 100 events across various venues that, here, we have hubristically whittled down into three picks.

On Wed 9 Oct, former reality TV contestant (Survivor 2001), ex-psychologist and current very talented stand-up Zoe Lyons performs at The Frog & Bucket (7pm, £7 advance, £10 on the door). Appearances on Mock the Week, Michael McIntyre’s Comedy Roadshow and Dave’s One Night Stand have cemented Lyons’ place on the comedy circuit, and an affable charm combining the mundane with the whimsical means that Lyons can make even the most commonplace – and sometimes disgraceful – goings-on seem delightful. Her reappropriation of gender roles and stereotypes is a breath of fresh air in comparison to the lazy one-dimensional musings some hacks attribute to what it is to be man or woman. Daring without being terrifying, Lyons is a great comic performer and one we urge you to see live.

Barbara Nice is the kind of woman you would call ‘Auntie’ when you were a kid, knowing full well she wasn’t your Auntie. Also, you’d look forward to her visits because she would bring balloons and generally be the most fun lady you’d ever met. Mrs Merton without the tragedy and snide edge, Barbara Nice performs a family friendly matinee show at The King’s Arms, Salford, on Thu 10 Oct at 5.30pm before performing a later, slightly more adult show at 7.30pm in the same venue (both gigs £6 adv, £8 otd). No stranger to a double shift, Mrs Nice should enchant with her stories from the backyards and supermarkets of her native Stockport. Her cheeriness is infectious, and if you don’t catch it, she may just pull you up on stage until you do.

Duo Norris & Parker have just returned from an extremely successful debut stint at the Fringe with their show All Our Friends Are Dead, daily performances of which went from strength to strength at Ryan’s Cellar Bar in Edinburgh and can now be seen at the Lass O’Gowrie on Sat 12 Oct (8pm, £3). Switching between roles, they are reminiscent of early League of Gentlemen, their gender-bending sketches relying more on weird and wistful characters rather than strict set-up and gag territory. The comedy comes from the pair's dedication to their creations. They love them and hate them all at the same time. They've been the subject of a lot of lazy comparisons with other female duos, because of course that’s much easier, but of all the double acts tossed at them, it is probably most fitting to put them in the dark comic territory of the collaborations between Jessica Hynes and Julia Davis, specifically Lizzie and Sarah. That show, however, never made it past the pilot stage, despite being brilliant – let’s hope Norris & Parker go a lot further.

http://www.womenincomedy.co.uk