Louise Atkinson and Priya Hall amongst 99 Club bursary recipients
- £500 bursaries: Louise Atkinson and Priya Hall
- £100 bursaries: Alexandra Haddow, Leila Navabi and Lorna Rose Treen
The 99 Club's 2023 bursaries for female & non-binary comedians were awarded to Louise Atkinson, Priya Hall, Alexandra Haddow, Leila Navabi and Lorna Rose Treen.
The venue chain says: "The 99 Club is overjoyed to announce its bursary award allocations following stellar performances from the five finalists. Two awards of £500 were given to Louise Atkinson and Priya Hall, with three awards of £100 given to Alexandra Haddow, Leila Navabi and Lorna Rose Treen."
The awards were presented after the finalists' performances on Monday 12th June's Bursary Showcase. The showcase also featured a headline set from 2022 bursary winner Sikisa and was hosted by Juliet Meyers.
A judging panel of comedy industry professionals were present to allocate the awards. The panel was formed of Kate Stone (Head of Comedy at Vaults Festival), James Woroniecki (Creative Director of The 99 Club), Sarah Henley (Founder of NextUp) and Steve Bennett (Editor of Chortle).
The club explains: "Monday's showcase is only one element of The 99 Club's Bursary. As well as finalists receiving financial support for their debut at the world-famous Edinburgh Festival, the programme allows The 99 Club to establish working relationships with both our selected finalists and comedians who applied for the programme.
"Past bursary recipients include Sophie Duker, Helen Bauer, Catherine Bohart, Sikisa, Lara Ricote, Sarah Keyworth and Janine Harouni. These previous bursary recipients have gone on from hopeful new talents to appearing on the country's best loved shows such as Live At The Apollo, Mock The Week, Taskmaster and Comedy Central's Roast Battle."
The organisers conclude: "We at The 99 Club are lucky to have a regular roster of brilliant female & non-binary comedians, and are excited to work with many more. The 99 Club truly values our ability to support these emerging talents and champion diverse voices within a homogenous industry."