If you enter this competition you could find yourself on a stage at the Edinburgh Fringe entertaining the crowds.
Fosters “So You Think You’re Funny?” applications will open at 12noon today. If you are aged over 18, new to stand-up comedy, and have not performed regularly before June 2013 and think you might have a pretty active funny bone, it’s definitely time to apply to Foster’s “So You Think You’re Funny?”!
Fosters So You Think You’re Funny? is the leading amateur stand-up comedy competition in the UK and has seen the likes of Peter Kay, Lee Mack, Sarah Millican, Johnny Vegas, Dylan Moran and Jack Whitehall as winners and finalists in previous years.
“The Final was the biggest gig I had ever done. Peter Kay hosted it and Russell Howard, Jimmy Carr, Andy Zaltzman and Josie Long were in the final. Winning it definitely gave me the confidence to keep writing the sort of stupid crappy jokes and songs I still do today”
David O’Doherty (Winner, 1999)
“For me it was the single most important thing I did in my career, it helped me leap from a lot of the crap in the business and gave me the extra push I needed but it also changed my life forever”
Jason Byrne (Finalist, 1996)
Now in its 27th year, this is truly the original competition of its kind, and we want you to be a part of it!
The Competition
The competition starts in the spring of each year with showcases countrywide. Last year the search for the best comedy newcomers went to Bristol, Leeds, Liverpool, Birmingham, Newcastle, Manchester, Leeds, Glasgow, Inverness, Dublin, Brighton and Nottingham as well as ten comedy clubs in London. Last year there were over 500 applicants for only 70 places in the Edinburgh heats. The demand for places is high, so the sooner the applications are received the better!
The event is open to new acts, who have been performing for less than 18 months, and who have yet to have been regularly paid for a comedy gig. (For full details of the Rules and how to Apply, please visit the website www.soyouthinkyourefunny.co.uk )
Regional Showcases, Heats and the Final
Each showcase is not a direct competition. Instead the judges select the best acts from the combined showcases and invite them to take part in one of seven Heats at the Gilded Balloon during the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in August. Winners of each of these heats go forward to the Final, where the overall winner is selected.
The Final will be held on Thursday 21st August 2014, where the best 9 comics, perform their funniest 7 minutes to industry judges and a full audience in the Gilded Balloon’s Debating Hall. The winner receives £5000 and a trip to Montreal’s Just for Laugh’s Festival.
The Sponsors
After an extremely successful second year Fosters are again the sponsors of So You Think You’re Funny? bringing the competition to new heights! Sharing the same values of nurturing and developing up and coming comedic talent in the UK, we believe our collaboration will provide the perfect foundations for a wider talent support network for the future.
Dates to remember
The Regional Showcases start in May and continue through to July. The winners of the Regional Showcases will then be invited to perform at one of the Heats at Gilded Balloon during the Edinburgh Festival Fringe (3rd, 4th, 5th, 10th, 11th, 12th, 13th August 2014), with the Grand Final on Thursday 21st August 2014.
Founding Editor of The Edinburgh Reporter.
Edinburgh-born multimedia journalist and iPhoneographer.
