Stonewall's Girl's Night Out

Ever wondered just how funny an all-female comedy night could be? Find out at Stonewall’s Girls’ Night Out – a fundraiser for the gay equality charity, to support their work in tackling homophobic bullying in schools. 

After a sell-out inaugural show last year, Girls’ Night Out returns to London’s Bloomsbury Theatre on 30 September. 

Jen Brister is MC for the night, joined by comedians including Derek star Kerry Godliman and Zoe Lyons from Mock the Week. Hannah Gadsby, Francesca Martinez, Angie McEvoy, Leisa Rea, Suzi Ruffell and Rosie Wilby are just some of the other acts also on the bill. 

Tickets cost £25, and you can find out the latest confirmed comedians and booking information at www.stonewall.org.uk/comedy

ROSIE WILBY: NINETIES WOMAN

Date: Tuesday 2 July
Venue: Lost Theatre, Wandsworth
Tickets:  From £9 Buy



90s Woman Trailer from Wendy B on Vimeo.


A twenty first century reflection on feminism in the 90s? It's hard not to start taking a Marxist position on the dichotemy here, and very hard not to sound wanky or pretentious. 

Thankfully, we have Rosie, who's going to do that for us with a humourous, mutli media and highly personal journey in the form of a one woman show.

The 90s was very much a time when grass roots campaigning and activism was prevalent in student life and feminist movements - how was it done before we had mobile phones, flashmobs, e-petitions, youtube, twitter or facebook (for the younger of you, those times did exist!)

And how is it possible to look back on those times without using modern technology (a product of capitalism) to create meaning?

What impact did it have to be part of a movement - one as important as feminism, and how did it shape the people those activists and students grew up to be? What happens to that passion, is it still there twenty years later? And ultimately, are the issues young feminists are campaigning about today any different from those we fought against twenty, thirty, forty years ago?

(I'm hoping Rosie has some answers for all these questions... I'm happy that the show is billed as 'part documentary, part detective story and part unrequited love story, Rosie traces this original collective and investigates what happened to feminism (and the woman that everyone had a crush on)')

Says Rosie, “I started reading books and articles by some of the younger feminists coming through, like Kat Banyard, and started wondering again about Matrix - what our legacy had been, whether it was still going and what my fellow writers were doing these days. I found my dusty old copies up at my Dad’s among all my old stuff and, once I started reading them again, found myself on a detective mission to find out. It turns out a later group of York students started up a new feminist zine, Matrix Reloaded, in 2006. They were still featuring a lot of the same issues which, in some ways is frustrating as it demonstrates that we haven’t come very far over the last decade, but it was great to meet them and know we’d inspired them to create something. That meeting wouldn’t have happened if I hadn’t started making this show.”

Nineties Woman was commissioned by Shout LGBT Festival at Mac in Birmingham in March 2013 and is supported using public funding by Arts Council England. Creation of the piece was supported by: Ben Walters, Time Out London’s cabaret editor; Carolyn Reid, writer, director and editor of feature documentary film Jan’s Coming Out; Naomi Paxton, actress, character comedian and writer (The Methuen Drama Book of Suffrage Plays); and Colin Watkeys, producer of several internationally touring shows with performer Claire Dowie.

 
By Katie

Femmes by the Thames

Femmes by the Thames

South London stand up Rosie Wilby’s female performance showcase Femmes by the Thames has been running every few months for the past two years at Royal Vauxhall Tavern to rave reviews and rapt audiences with guest acts including Pippa Evans, Lady Carol, Sarah Louise Young and Mae Martin gracing the stage. However, the story actually all started back in 2007 with a short monthly run on Battersea Barge as Femmes on the Thames and, for one very special night only, the Femmes are returning to their original home as part of Wandsworth Arts Festival. 

Featuring …..

Shazia Mirza

Award winning stand up as seen on Have I Got News For You, CBS 60 minutes, NBC’s Last Comic Standing 

Cariad Lloyd

Fosters Newcomer Nominee presents her bizarre and deluded characters, from Andrew the 7-year-old stand up to Cockney Sam and his murderous songs of woe

‘Breathtaking’ ***** The Skinny; ‘Sharp, witty and fiercely intellligent’ **** Fest

Liz Bentley

South London’s quirkiest and most wondrous musical comedy poet

‘Truly the most indefinable act I’ve ever seen. I wouldn't want to have missed it’ Three Weeks

Holly Burn

Bonkers but brilliant character comedy

‘surreal, hilarious fun’ **** Broadway Baby; ‘sublime’ London Is Funny 

Susan Harrison

Wandsworth based character act, winner of a Three Week’s Editors Choice Award 2010

‘Excellent’ The Daily Telegraph

Mary Leay

Acoustic singer songwriter featured on the soundtrack to the new David Tennant film

‘Exquisite, memorable songs with the voice of an angel’ Get Rhythm magazine 

Plus your host Rosie Wilby ‘a great compere, very good at improvising’ Diva

Femmes on the Thames, 17th May, Battersea Barge, Nine Elms Lane, London SW8 5BP

8pm, doors 7.30pm, tickets £5, phone 020 7498 0004 to reserve 

www.femmesbythethames.com

www.wandsworth.gov.uk/artsfestival

www.batterseabarge.com

www.rosiewilby.com

Interview: Rosie Wilby, comedian, musician, writer and broadcaster

Rosie Wilby's website

Planet London managed to grab 5 minutes with Rosie before she compered the Funny Women slot at the Big Gay Lifestyle Show. Rosie has been involved with Funny Women since she made the final of their competition in 2006.

Rosie also hosts Femmes by the Thames, a diverse cabaret night held every 2-3 months on a Wednesday night at the Royal Vauxhall Tavern. The night showcases female music/comedy/character/poetry performances and has been running at the RVT since February 2010. The night is a spin off from Rosie's cabaret night 'Femmes on the Thames' that used to be held monthly on the Battersea Barge. "The RVT doesn't bob up and down quite so much" Rosie remarked.

Rosie told us she thinks LGBT events such as Pride are an important feature of the gay scene, but they need to be clear on what their message is and who they are for. She said the gay lifestyle is very social and also political but otherwise is pretty much the same as everyone elses.

Additionally, Rosie also presents a radio show called 'Out in South London', Tuesday nights at 6.30pm on Resonance104.4fm. The radio show has become a big success, and it started out as a monthly show on South City Radio, a community radio station based in Peckham, but when that lost its funding for adult programming Rosie moved the show to Resonance FM as it had developed a good following, where it is now a weekly fixture. The show has attracted some high profile guests including Stella Duffy and Sarah Waters and features only LGBT guests and music by LGBT artists, receiving excellent reviews in The Guardian, Time Out and South London press.

But that is not all Rosie is up to at the moment, she will be touring with a 90s nostalgia-based comedy show 'Rosie's Pop Diary' (which she has already taken to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe earlier in 2011) which looks back on stories and memories, fan letters and reviews of Rosie's time in a 90s brit pop band. Look out for her London tour dates on Planet London's events calendar, and find out more about everything Rosie is up to on her website. 

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Read our overall review of the Big Gay Lifestyle Show here.

To listen to previous episodes of the radio show, visit the Out in South London website.

Review by Katie and Naomi