Adam is a landscape designer, presenter and co-founder of the Homebase Garden Academy. Along with his seven RHS Chelsea Gold medals, he also won ‘Best Urban Garden’ in 2008. He believes great garden design is about understanding people, space and having a passion for plants, often taking inspiration from local architecture and native planting.
He enjoys travelling and speaking on a wide range of horticultural topics, and his down-to-earth nature and enthusiasm for the great outdoors makes him hugely popular with young people.
His television presenting includes BBC Gardeners’ World, along with coverage of RHS Flower Shows. Adam is a regular contributor to horticultural magazines and in 2015, he wrote and published his first book entitled Real Gardens about his seven Chelsea Gold medal-winning designs.
What do you get when you take the confidence and conviction of a nineties diva and transport it to the present day? When you mix empowering pop melodies with the warmth of a big sister; dance–floor fillers with grit and heart?
Rising Irish artist Aimée has been busy carving out her niche in the pop arena. Not content to fall into line with the uniformity dominating the modern charts, Aimée is committed to her roots as a nineties–pop aficionado —with one eye crate–digging for the great pop sounds of the past, and the other set on the global stage.
Growing up in Dublin on a diet of big–ballad stars and Swedish–produced–pop, Aimée only ever had one dream: to be a pop star. There was never a plan b.
Her arrival on the scene in 2018 led to a string of top 40 hits at home in Ireland, as well as support from BBC, kiss, clash and more. Debut ep confessions shot to the number one spot in the iTunes pop album chart, not to mention the overall iTunes album chart. Songs like “don’t call me pretty” established her as an artist who wasn’t about to compromise on her feminism, while “naked” explored the full range of her vocals, finding comfort in embracing vulnerability. Single “bulletproof”, written in response to online bullies, proved that hers was a voice committed to championing causes close to her heart, and led to a battle for the top spot in the iTunes chart with billie eilish.
Aimée is also part of the Irish women in harmony collective, whose first single “dreams” received over 5 million streams on Spotify, and made history as the first female act to hold the number one spot on the official homegrown Irish chart. Since then, she has been a champion for Irish women’s voices in an industry dominated by men. While women still fight for equality on airways, in writing rooms and on the live stage, Aimée says no more.
Brighton Fringe is England’s largest arts festival, in 2023 it will run from 5 May – 4 June. It is an open-access festival meaning that anyone can pay our registration fee, find a venue and put on an event as part of Brighton Fringe.
Cally Beaton is a keynote speaker, awards host, comedian, business leader, podcaster, writer and entrepreneur. Well-known for being a natural storyteller, full of intelligent, distinctive and insightful material, Cally is one of the UK’s most sought-after names for corporate, broadcasting and live comedy work.
Her television appearances to date include being a regular panellist on BBC2’s QI and The Apprentice: You’re Fired, as well as featuring on: Live At The Apollo, Pointless Celebrities, Richard Osman’s House of Games and The Blame Game.
She is popular with BBC Radio 4 audiences where her appearances include: The Now Show, The Unbelievable Truth, Saturday Live and Museum Of Curiosity. She is also a regular contributor on Radio 5 Live, Times Radio and BBC London.
In 2021, Cally launched Namaste Motherf**kers, the only podcast where the worlds of comedy, self-help and business collide. With the help of celebrity guests and experts, Cally gets to the stories you’ve never heard before – uncovering not your normal life lessons, but some big ones nonetheless, bringing heart and humour into the worlds of work and wellbeing. She is working on a book, incorporating her own insights alongside the life hacks and confessions of her celebrity guests.
Comedy Women In Print is the brainchild of comedian, author, actress Helen Lederer. Its aim is to recognise, celebrate and encourage witty women authors. We’ve created a platform for both aspiring and established witty writers. CWIP not only offers a publishing deal with Harper fiction to a NEW witty writer, but it also gives mega publicity and respect to the BEST funny fiction around.
The Published Novel Winner gets a massive amount of love from clever, celebrity judges and a stonking cash prize.
The Unpublished Novel Winner is published by Harper Collins and receive an advance and huge attention. The Unpublished runner upper’s win a place on an MA in Creative Writing at the University of Hertfordshire and an MA in Comedy at Falmouth University.
The Short Story Winner and Shortlisted entries will appear in (working title cos we like it so much) ‘FUNNY SHORTS’ – an anthology of witty women’s writing, published by Farrago and showcased in the company of CWIP’s much loved witty authors.
Connor Mac is a 24-year-old singer-songwriter originally from Palmerston North New Zealand and is now based in Switzerland. Since his moving to Europe, he has been honing his live performance skills by regularly performing acoustic shows working in resorts and at private functions, while also writing and recording his original music that can be described as smooth pop with soulful overtones.
“I would describe my music as smooth pop with soulful overtones. “I like to keep my lyrics honest and personal, and echo the emotion of the words in the melodies of my songs. Although I write these songs for myself, I hope that the vulnerability can be felt by anyone who is listening.”
Liverpool-born drag artist Danny Beard is the winner of season four of RuPaul’s Drag Race UK, breaking records as the first bearded queen to appear on the show.
A self-proclaimed ‘shady, singing, cartoon clown’, Danny is a singer and performer with unique flare and humour.
Danny was a semi-finalist on Britain’s Got Talent and is well-versed in performing. They are a regular on Manchester’s Drag scene, often appearing at cabaret nights mixing club kid aesthetic with old school drag performance style as well hosting and headlining pride festivals across the country.
Danny hosts a weekly LGBTQ+ podcast, The Gossip Gays where they and their co-star give us a run down on the weeks news, gossip, as well as turning agony aunt with hilarious consequences.
Darren Harriott is one of the most exciting comedians on the circuit. Over the last few years, he has hosted Live at the Apollo, BBC’s News Jack Unplugged and CBBC’s The Dog Ate My Homework. He has become a regular face on our screens on panel shows such Mock the Week and Don’t Hate the Playaz as well as giving his viewpoint on popular reality shows; The Apprentice: Your Fired and The Great British Bake Off: Extra Slice. He’s a Comedy Central favourite on shows such as The Comedy Bus and Roast Battle. Earlier this year he wrote and recorded his own 4 part series Black Label on BBC Radio 4.
His work is recognised across the creative industries. Not only did he receive Nominations at Edinburgh for Best Comedy Show in 2019 and Best Newcomer in 2017, but he has also been immortalised in a mural in Birmingham which celebrates the city’s rising Stars.
Following his Best Newcomer nomination for his debut show Defiant at Edinburgh in 2017, he sold out a solo run at Soho Theatre. After his second nomination for best show for Good Heart Yute in 2019, he will be doing not one but two runs at the infamous London location – the second of which is a 5 day run in February 2020.
Originally from Birmingham, and now living in London, Darren Harriott is a regular at clubs such as 99 Club, Top Secret, Backyard Comedy Club, The Boat Show, Up the Creek and The Glee.
A confident performer with a captivating charm, Darren’s comedy deals with everything from subverting stereotypes, to everyday observations, to that juiciest of topics, religion – all with a cutting edge.
Dr Amir Khan is a devoted full-time GP and best-selling author working in inner city Bradford. His charisma and expertise won the hearts of the nation following his original role in GP’s Behind Closed Doors (Channel 5).
Amir is the resident doctor for ITV’s Lorraine & Good Morning Britain and hosts Dr Amir’s Sugar Crash (Channel 5) and You Are What You Eat (with Trisha Goddard, Channel 5).
Other TV credits include hosting the Science of Sleep (Channel 5) with Gaby Roslin, hosting How to Lose a Stone in a Month (Channel 5) with Ruth Langsford, hosting The Great British Urine Test (Channel 5) with Dr Christian Jessen, ITV Tonight show, BBC Breakfast, ITV This Morning, Sky News.
The Doctor Will See You Now (Ebury) is Amir’s Sunday Times Bestselling book that tells a heart-warming story of the highs and lows of life as a GP. Amir also contributes to Gardener’s World, BBC Wildlife Magazine, Grazia and Good Housekeeping.
Amir is the first Ambassador for The National Wildlife Trusts and The Butterfly Conservation Society, working closely with them to ensure access to green spaces for inner city children and spreading the word on how being outside with nature is good for your health.
When he’s not in the surgery or on our TV screens, Amir spends his time gardening, baking, running and supporting wildlife conservation!
Hal Cruttenden is one of the top touring stand up comedians working in the UK and Ireland today, as well as being a highly accomplished writer, presenter and actor.
He has made several appearances on ‘Live at the Apollo’ (BBC1 & 2), ‘Have I Got News For You’ (BBC1), ‘The Royal Variety Performance’ (ITV1), ‘Would I Lie To You’ (BBC1) ‘The One Show’ (BBC1), ‘The Great British Bake Off: An Extra Slice’ (BBC2 & Channel 4) and ‘The Apprentice: You’re Fired’ (BBC2).
He’s toured extensively in the UK and Ireland over the last 8 years, he has also taken shows to the Montreal, Melbourne, and New Zealand comedy festivals and he’s recorded three stand up specials for Next Up -‘Tough Luvvie’, ‘Straight Outta Cruttenden’ and ‘Chubster’. Hal’s current tour, ‘It’s Best You Hear it From Me’ is on the road now.
Hal wrote and starred in his own sitcom, ‘Hal’ on Radio 4, as an actor he trained at the Central School of Speech and Drama, he has appeared in ‘Shackleton’; ‘Eastenders’; ‘Touching Evil’, ‘Bramwell’, ‘Mrs Dalloway‘, ‘Brexit’, ‘Making News’ and ‘Orwell A Celebration’.
Jay Shetty is an award-winning storyteller, podcaster and former monk who is making wisdom go viral. In 2016, Jay Shetty launched his Facebook page and his entertaining and inspiring videos have racked up over 200 million views across multiple social media platforms and gained over one million followers globally. In 2017, he was named to Forbes Europe’s 30 Under 30 list for his role as a game-changer and influencer in the world of Media. He recently published his first book, Think Like a Monk: Train Your Mind for Peace and Purpose Every Day. In pre-order sales, it has already reached the top of the best selling lists in India, the U.K. and the U.S.
At the age of 22, Jay was inspired to make a difference in the world. After graduating with a 1st class BSc (Honors) Degree in Behavioral Science from Cass Business School in London, he left everything behind to live as a monk in India. For 3 years, Jay helped establish sustainable villages and food distribution programs, and coached millennials across the world.
Wanting to pay forward what he learned from his time as a monk, Jay began sharing his experiences in universities and the world’s largest corporations including EY and Nasdaq. During this time, Jay recognized the world was going digital and joined Accenture’s team as a Social Media Coach to help executives with their online branding and digital strategy.
After starting his Facebook page in 2016 with the goal of sharing wisdom at the rate we want entertainment, Arianna Huffington took notice of Jay’s talent and chose him to be the Host of HuffPost Lifestyle in New York. On his HuffPost Live daily show, #FollowTheReader, he interviewed the likes of Russell Simmons, Tim Ferris and Deepak Chopra, reached 1 million people daily (updated number?) and was No. 1 for engagement amongst The Huffington Post Facebook Live shows.
He has been invited to be the keynote speaker for sessions about finding purpose, harnessing collaboration and driving change at leading companies including Google, Facebook and HSBC.
Among his awards are the 2016 ITV Asian Media Award for Best Blog, 3rd place in the 2015 Guardian Rising Star Award, the 2018 Streamys award for Health and Wellness, and Outstanding Achievement Online at the 2019 Asian Awards.
Jay continues to partner with publishers, broadcasters and organizations to create impactful content that entertains and inspires global audiences
Jim Jefferies is one of the most popular and respected comedians of his generation, entertaining audiences across the globe with his provocative, belief-challenging, and thought-provoking comedy. He was recently named one of the top five touring comedians in the world.
After receiving rave reviews for his 2018 international stand up tour, The Unusual Punishment Tour, Jim is back on the road with an entirely new routine for his The Night Talker Tour, which he’ll be performing internationally and nationally through November 2019.
Jim recently signed a first look deal with Comedy Central for content development in television and digital media. Additionally, Jim’s eponymous Comedy Central series, “The Jim Jefferies Show”, has been picked up for a third season and premiered Mach 19, 2019. As a strong voice in late night, the weekly series features Jim traveling across the globe to tackle the top news stories and controversial issues of the day. In addition to the series, Jim also continues to head up the weekly podcast series, “The Jim Jefferies Show” Podcast, co-hosted by Forrest Shaw. The podcast, from Comedy Central’s Podcast Network, includes interviews and discussions with a variety of guests discussing current news and politics, as well as providing a more in-depth focus on the topics and opinions featured on the television series—with less filters.
In 2018, Jim starred in his third Netflix comedy special “Jim Jefferies: This Is Me Now”. Performing at the Eventim Apollo in London, he unapologetically kept it real opening up the challenges of being a single father, as well as, the weirdest gig he ever played. The year before, he released his fifth major stand up special in seven years, “Freedumb”. The special was Jim’s second to air on Netflix, and followed the huge success of the first, “Jim Jefferies: BARE”, in which he delivered a now iconic routine on guns and gun control in the United States.
In addition, Jim created, wrote, produced, and starred in the critically acclaimed FX series “Legit”, which ran for two seasons and has since gained a cult following. He has also appeared in the films “Killing Hasselhoff” and “Punching Henry”.
The last few years have been extremely busy for the America’s Got Talent winner, on both sides of the Atlantic. 2016 saw Zerdin head to The Las Vegas Strip for a headline residency at Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino. 2017 and 2018 saw Paul appear on spin-off shows America’s Got Talent – The Champions and Britain’s Got Talent – The Champions. Since then Paul has toured the US and UK with his critically acclaimed ‘All Mouth’ and ‘Puppet Party’ shows.
Zerdin is arguably the UK’s number one ventriloquist and made his TV debut in 1993 as the host of GMTV’s ‘Rise and Shine’. He then went on to win ITV’s The Big Big Talent Show, hosted by Jonathan Ross. Since then he has appeared on countless TV shows including The World Stands Up (Comedy Central), The Stand Up Show BBC!, Just for Laughs Montreal Comedy Festival, Comedy Rocks with Jason Manford (ITV1), Tonight at The London Palladium with Bruce Forsyth and Bradley Walsh (ITV1), Michael McIntyre’s Big Christmas Show (BBC1) and three appearances at The Royal Variety Performance. Winning Series 10 of America’s Got Talent in September 2015, Zerdin and his sidekicks soon went viral on YouTube, receiving millions of views from around the world.
2021 and 2022 Paul toured his Paul Zerdin – Hands Free show which he filmed for Television for a 2023 release.
Paul is a Gold Star Member of The Inner Magic Circle and lives with his foam family in South West London.
Roxane Gay’s writing appears in Best American Mystery Stories 2014, Best American Short Stories 2012, Best Sex Writing 2012, A Public Space, McSweeney’s, Tin House, Oxford American, American Short Fiction, Virginia Quarterly Review, and many others. She is a contributing opinion writer for the New York Times. She is the author of the books Ayiti, An Untamed State, the New York Times bestselling Bad Feminist, the nationally bestselling Difficult Women and the New York Times bestselling Hunger. She is also the author of World of Wakanda for Marvel. She has several books forthcoming and is also at work on television and film projects. She also has a newsletter, The Audacity and once had a podcast, The Roxane Gay Agenda.
Sam Morrison is a Brooklyn based comedian and writer.
He just made his late night television debut on Late Night With Seth Meyers and his solo show Sugar Daddy is currently running off broadway at Soho Playhouse now extended through April 1st.
He has also performed on The Drew Barrymore Show, appeared on Watch What Happens Live & Tamron Hall, and was staffed on the first season (64 episoides) of Blind Date, hosted by Nikki Glaser, currently airing on Bravo.
Showstopper! The Improvised Musical has been a rip-roaring success since the show started in 2008. It has had eleven sell-out years at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, two West End runs, an Olivier award and a BBC Radio 4 series.
In the show, the audience meets a writer of musicals who is on a deadline – he needs their help. The audience shouts out suggestions of a setting, musical styles and the title of the show and they’re off!
The Showstopper team – cast and band – will then weave a brand new musical in front of the very eyes of the audience, complete with hilarious characters, fabulous dance routines, beautiful songs, epic story lines, all sprinkled with the pzazz of a Broadway show.
Every night is a premiere and they quite literally couldn’t do the show without you, so why not pop down and help them create the next hit musical?
Stacey Dooley is one of Britain’s most loved documentary presenters.
She rose to prominence in 2008, appearing as a contributor on BBC3 series Blood, Sweat and T-Shirts; a programme illustrating the typical fashion-obsessed consumer and highlighting throwaway fashion. From 2009 to present day, Stacey has produced an array of social-issue themed documentaries concerning sex trafficking, domestic abuse and prisons from some of the world’s most hostile territories.
In 2011, BBC3 aired Tourism and the Truth: Stacey Dooley Investigates. Over two episodes, Dooley investigated how tourism in Thailand and Kenya affects employees there regarding wages, corruption and environmental changes. She also began presenting CBBC’s Show Me What You’re Made Of, which has now finished its seventh series.
Shot in Stacey’s native Luton, My Hometown Fanatics was broadcast on BBC3 in 2012. A three-part series titled Coming Here Soon was broadcast on BBC3 later that year, in which she explored the lives of young people in three countries affected by the global financial crisis: Greece, Ireland and Japan.
Stacey’s impressive work in bringing a voice and platform to many earnt her an MBE for services to broadcasting in 2018.
later that year she worked on various projects for BBC1, including investigating the environmental impact that fast fashion has on our planet as well as working with Children In Need to explore the extent of homelessness in the UK. Celebrities on the NHS Front-line was to celebrate the 70th birthday of the National Health Service, where she presented alongside Jonnie Peacock and Michael Mosley and the staff at King’s College Hospital.
In the same year the series of Stacey Dooley Investigates took her to Russia, Florida, Iraq, and Hungary to explore more challenging issues such as child exploitation; sex offenders; war; domestic violence; pollution in the fashion industry and coming face-to-face with an ISIS soldier for which she won a One World Media Award. The episodes of this series won the title of the Most Watched Documentaries on BBC iPlayer.
Stacey was crowned the winner of the 16th series of BBC One’s Strictly Come Dancing in December 2018 and named as Grazia’s new Contributing editor for Investigations in early 2019.
The same year saw Stacey Dooley Sleeps Overdebuted on UKTV’s W Channel. The six-part series saw Stacey stay overnight in the company of families within the UK from all walks of life.
She is a big advocate for children’s TV and has worked closely with CBBC for a number of years on programmes such as Pets Factor and Nine to Five.
Her debut book On the Frontline with the Women who Fight Back, draws on encounters with the brave, wonderful women Stacey has met over her career to explore, at its centre, womanhood in the world today – it quickly made its way onto The Sunday Times Bestseller list. This prompted her to stage several talks and two UK book tours, where she invited a variety of well-known faces to interview her about her work.
2019 documentaries include; Stacey Dooley and the Lifers; Spy Cams and Creep Catchers; This World’s Spanish Narcos; Whale Wars; Stacey Dooley on the Ward and Bounty Hunters. Many of them quickly became most watched on BBC iPlayer.
Stacey continues to take on a diverse range of projects. She began presenting BBC3’s reality competition series Glow Up: Britain’s Next Make-Up Star which has just completed its second successful series and is available worldwide on Netflix.
In the same year, Stacey took on several challenging documentaries; this takes her documentary tally to over 80 in the years she has been presenting.
Inspired by the front line and others trying to make a difference during the Pandemic, Lockdown Hero’s is the latest BBC3 project for Stacey – armed with social media and a network of contract, she reaches out to people across the country in search of those who are trying to help others throughout the pandemic. Her second Panorama Stacey Dooley and the Lockdown Babies played on BBC1 in July 2020.
Albert Square came calling when Stacey was asked to host an interview show, Secrets of the Square whilst EastEnders took a summer break. Late 2020 saw Stacey filming This is my House, a primetime Entertainment format for BBC One. 2021 also saw the return of Stacey Dooley Sleeps Over for W Channel.
In 2022, Stacey Dooley released her new book Are You Really OK? Understanding Britain’s Mental Health Emergency, following on from her two BBC documentaries on mental health.
Stacey has also released another two part series with BBC2 on Stalkers. This saw her join a specialist police unit in Cheshire and a victim support organisation. Stacey’s most recent documentary The Convent was a one-hour immersive episode where she lived alongside the sisters, joining their strict timetable of work and contemplation and silence, in a bid to understand the way they live and to find out if there are aspects of this lifestyle she could bring into her own.
A third series of Stacey Sleeps Over will be on air for the W channel in April. Stacey stays with three new families whilst exploring more unseen areas of modern relationships and family life. She takes us through a 72-hour cycle as a house guest, learning all the routines and rituals that make each one unique.
A third series of Stacey Sleeps Over aired on the W channel in April. Stacey stayed with three new families whilst exploring more unseen areas of modern relationships and family life. She took us through a 72-hour cycle as a house guest and learnt all the routines and rituals that make each one unique.
Stacey’s current series for BBC two, DNA Family Secrets, sees Stacey meeting people across the UK who want to unlock
mysteries hidden within their genetic code. Working with one of the UK’s leading geneticist’s professor Turi King, as well as genealogists, social workers and doctors they use the very latest DNA technology to reveal lost heritage, track down missing relatives and detect debilitating diseases before it is too late.
The Sugarcoated Sisters are an award-winning musical comedy duo and real-life siblings from Hertfordshire. Chloe is the blonde, Tabby is the brunette!
The Sugarcoated Sisters launched on TikTok in January 2020 and since then have gained over 600K online followers and over 100M views. Their content covers feminism, dating, UK culture and more packaged as original, well-produced musical sketches.
Tabby & Chloe entered the live comedy scene in Jan 2022, with a guitar and double and scathingly rude original songs. The won Best Newcomer at the Musical Comedy Awards 2022 and have been doing gigs and previews around the country before they performed their Edinburgh Fringe Debut with Sugarcoated Sisters: Bittersweet to massive acclaim in 2023
The 2 Johnnies are Ireland’s favourite musical comedy duo. From their humble beginnings publishing relatable Irish small town life sketches and self released music videos on facebook & youtube, the pair have gone on to produce Ireland’s no.1 podcast, “The 2 Johnnies Podcast”, release 10 no.1 Irish singles, bring live podcast shows to four continents around the world and produce three TV shows on Ireland’s state public service broadcaster RTE.
TV host and award-winning critically acclaimed comedian, Zoe took her first steps down the comedy path in 2003 after training as an actress at the Poor School in London. She went on to win the Funny Women Competition in 2004 and her debut Edinburgh show was nominated for the if.comedy newcomer award. In 2008 she won the Dave, Funniest Joke of The Fringe Award.
Zoe has appeared in many TV shows including Mock the Week, The Wright Stuff, Michael McIntyre Roadshow and many more and is often to be found on the radio and has appeared on many shows.
