'So You Think You're Funny?' finalists 2016
The finalists have been announced for So You Think You're Funny? 2016, the prestigious stand-up competition for new acts.
Now in its 29th year, the Edinburgh Fringe-based competition has previously unearthed comedy talent such as Peter Kay, Miles Jupp, David O'Doherty, Tommy Tiernan, Lee Mack, Dylan Moran and Aisling Bea.
This year's final will take place at the Gilded Balloon on the 25th August (Tickets). The winner, decided by a panel of judges, will receive a cash prize of £2,500, the opportunity to perform at Montreal's Just For Laughs Festival and Norway's Bergen Humor Fest, as well as a place in Gilded Balloon's 2017 Fringe programme. The first runner-up will take home £1,500 and the second runner-up will take home £1,000.
Here are the finalists, with their own biographies:
A real double F: French & Fabulous! Based in South London's Brixton; Arielle Souma first took the mic in 2014 adding up colour and diversity to the comedy scene. She is a force to reckon with. Punchy, blunt, accessible; Arielle Souma performs with a distinctive empowering style.
Danielle Walker, recently crowned Raw Comedy 2016 National Champion, is a strange, if not perhaps slightly deranged girl known for her dark and twisted everyday observations and stories.
Edinburgh College of Art alumna and acclaimed mouth-trumpeter Harriet Braine performs essays on the History of Art through the medium of parody song. Since winning Musical Comedy Awards Best Newcomer 2016, she has written some more songs, done some guitar practice, and written a show. The rest is Art History.
Heidi is a slightly surreal, quite deadpan, substantially human comedian. She is originally from Australia which is in the southern hemisphere, which itself is one of the two biggest hemispheres in the world!
Jamie M is a special little boy from Bristol. This year he has started revealing short insights into his surreal and at times tragic life into a microphone, much to the bemusement of crowds throughout the South West. He is also quite uncomfortable talking about himself in the third person.
Saaaf Londoner Kelly provides a no holds barred insight into what women really think. Topics that are rarely spoken about in public, let alone to a room full of strangers! Hastings Newcomer of the Year - 2nd place, Funny Woman of the Year & SYTYF 2016 Finalist.
Ruth Hunter is an Irish and questionably human comedian from Dublin.
Stuart McPherson is a man from Fife, Scotland who enjoys telling jokes to strangers in pubs for approval more than he does talking (typing) about himself (myself) in the third person.
I am a copywriter by trade but have always loved comedy. I only wish I'd got into it sooner! I'm inspired and exasperated by modern life in equal measure, which is reflected in my stand-up style. I'd describe it as conversational, observational and frequently a bit off-the-wall.