Finalists announced for 99 Club Bursary

Update: Janine Harouni and Helen Bauer were selected. Details

Helen Bauer, Yuriko Kotani, Sophie Duker, Janine Harouni and Emily Woods have been shortlisted for the 99 Club's Female & Non-Binary Comedy Bursary 2019.

The five comedians will take part in a live show, where two of them will receive an award of £500 to help with the costs of taking a show to the Edinburgh Festival.

The club, which notes this year's "quality of all entries was very high", says: "We're excited and proud to announce that on Tuesday 30th April 2019, 8pm we will be hosting our third Female & Non-Binary Comedy Bursary showcase, for female and non-binary performers taking their first full length solo show to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, at 99 Club Leicester Square. Last year's joint winners Sarah Keyworth and Catherine Bohart will be appearing as host and headliner respectively. After receiving the bursary Sarah was nominated Best Newcomer at the prestigious Edinburgh Comedy Awards and appeared on Comedy Central's Roast Battle and ITV2's Stand Up Sketch Show while Catherine went on to appear on 8 Out of 10 Cats, Roast Battle, Stand Up Sketch Show and The Mash Report."

Helen Bauer's Edinburgh show will be titled Little Miss Baby Angel Face and tackles the perils of overthinking and being a magnet for drama.

Yuriko Kotani's Somosomo is a show embracing the challenges of cultural differences, specifically relating to her home country of Japan.

Sophie Duker will be taking Venus to the Fringe, "an unconventional journey of self-discovery."

Janine Harouni will perform a show about reconciling difference and standing up for your beliefs, titled Stand Up With Janine Harouni (Please Remain Seated).

Emily Woods is taking an as yet untitled show to the Fringe about the difficulties of navigating sexual conquests through CityMapper and moving across the world at the age of 18.

The panel of judges will include Hollie Ebdon (Ebdon Management), Steve Bennett (Chortle), Hannah Martin (PBJ Management), Bruce Dessau (Evening Standard), James Woroniecki (Creative Director of The 99 Club) and comedian Desiree Burch.