Linda Jones continues our jaunt through the careers of Funny Women with a look at the wonderful Gina Yashere.My eight-year-old daughters think Gina Yashere in Gina's Laughing Gear is "ace" and I enjoyed her spirited performances from Comic Relief Does Fame Academy a couple of years back.
Linda Jones continues our Funny Women round-up by wondering why featuring this particular lady has taken so long.
Here's another national treasure. This talented lady has recently triumphed in the Baftas and shown Sharon Osbourne how to not to look a complete fool in an Asda ad. Here's a snippet illustrating why Victoria Wood's appeal is so timeless.
Related: Funny women: Julie Walters
Linda Jones is the director of Passionate Media. She blogs for Shiny at Twitterati, Bridalwave and Dollymix.
Linda Jones continues our Women who blog series, Dahling, with a chat to a simply divine blogger who's an inspiration to us all.
This week, I give you Rillysuper.blogspot.com - the best thing to come out of the North since Alun (give that man a knighthood) Armstrong.
You obviously have a literary bent, please do share with us any joyful news about a future publishing deal.
Publishing deal? Linda, darling, why don’t I just present you with a wound, some salt and a rusty medieval implement with which to rub vigorously the later into the former. Can we move along please?
Some people who comment on blogs can be frightful, can't they? How do you cope with such mischief makers?
If one bares one’s soul to the world, it is bared to those who will dislike what they see as much as to those who will like it. If someone takes the time and trouble to comment then they should be treated the same as anyone else, as welcome guests. When Northerners visit I just nod and pretend I understand them.
Linda Jones tells us why she loves Ann Summers parties (and nurses uniforms)...
I was talking about nurses' uniforms the other day (as you do) and I suddenly remembered I have one. Well, I have a size 16 piece of flimsy blue and white material with an apron on it, which is supposed to represent such a thing. Go figure.
It's hidden away in a drawer with a load of other tat, sorry stuff, that has come home with me from various Ann Summers parties over the years, having passed my dignity, also on the way out.
I love my collection of knickers, bras and other (cough) stuff that has never seen the light of day. Maybe one day I'll pluck up courage to wear it, or perhaps flog it at a car boot sale. There's one coming up at Emily and Melissa's school. Wahay.
So what happens at these bawdy events where the dirty jokes flow as freely as the cheap white wine?
Linda Jones continues our focus on Funny Women with a wise-cracking, foul-mouthed US star making her laugh like a drain.
This is bizarre. Who'd have thought it? But the way Ms Rivers tore into the Miss Great Britain contestants had me laughing so much I was nearly begging for mercy.
Here's another star turn from the veteran acid-tongued megastar:
Linda Jones continues our Women who Blog series, shining a light on a site with quite a rude name, but one that has her in hysterics anyway. Perhaps it's the twin thing.
Is your boyfriend a twat? I suppose mine must be some of the time, as am I. But I'd never broadcast this to the world. Hang on. Just did.
Anyway, the My Boyfriend is a Twat blog has a loyal following and has won a clutch of awards.
It also has a book of the same name coming out next month.
Belgium-based blogger Zoe McCarthy made me laugh out loud with some of her answers and then accused me of drinking. Nice. (Shouts: I am joking.)
I'll also gloss over the fact that she told me she was sorry she couldn't answer my questions earlier as she was engrossed in a Sudoku puzzle and missed her tram stop. I'm giving her the benefit of the doubt as she doesn't like marzepan or exclamation marks, and well neither do I.
See, even writing that makes me laugh. So here's Zoe's answers. Enjoy. Sorry, I obviously mean Enjoy!!!
When I was seven or eight I joined The Brownies. I didn't last long, leaving amid a minor scandal which involved wantonly chewing gum. I'd at least had time to be awarded a badge for housework, after scrubbing my dad's shirt collar and some darts trophies in the pub where we lived.
These days you're as likely to find me taking as much care over the cleaning as you are discovering Pete Doherty at a trainspotters' convention. Yet I can still remember the pride I felt during the albeit brief time I spent as a Pixie.
Now my daughters are keen members of our local Brownie pack, and my heart is welling with pride again.
As worries rise over a reduced number of US women having mammograms, Linda Jones puts her "breast cancer scare" behind her...
A heart-felt thank you to everyone who got in touch to wish me well after reading on Dollymix about my recent check up to see if there was anything wrong in the bazookas department.
I'm delighted to report that my follow-up hospital appointment resulted in me kicking my heels and shouting "yeeeessss!" as I hot-footed it away down the corridor, hoping that I'll never have to return.
"For your breasts I give you ten out of ten," the lovely doctor told me. I didn't as Nora suggested I might, get a gold star to stick on each of them, but as they were dangling loosely in the region of my knees, that might just have been too much to expect.
Linda Jones continues our look at some of our favourite funny women by reporting on a lady who's moving from supporting roles into the limelight - and about time too.
Thank God for Rob Brydon. Now there's a sentence I never thought I'd write. It was he who first tempted the gorgeous Ruth Jones into comedy. Otherwise she was destined for life as a solicitor. This could have made for some entertaining courtroom exchanges I'm sure, but would have left the rest of us never knowing what we'd missed.
As MyFanwy in Little Britain, I'd like to think Ruth is at least a little responsible for "making lesbianism cool" as Isabelle reported yesterday. Who else have you heard say anything about loving a bit of muff on prime time telly?
Linda Jones continues our regular Women who blog feature with a look at a poacher giving the gamekeepers an insight into her world...
We all know about the on-going debate about the opposing interests of PR and journalism, now don’t we? PR and journalism can only ever rub along in a rather strained atmosphere of mutual mistrust, we are told.Rod Liddle once told the Independent that it was a journalist’s job to expose the truth, and a PR’s job to hide it.
Phew. Say what you mean Rod. Get down off that fence.
Journalist Sally Whittle is another straight-talker. Her blog, along with media trainer colleagues, at Getting Ink is a fantastic read – for the insights it gives to PRs on how a journalist’s mind works – and the debates this can provoke.
Linda Jones continues our Funny Women round-up with a nod to one of the UK's best-loved comic actresses...
How can anyone not love Julie Walters? The Smethwick-born actress is phenomenal, especially when she's dressed as the nation's favourite cleaning lady. Eat your heart out, Kim and Aggie!
When not chuckling over Acorn Antiques, Linda Jones can be found running herself ragged at Passionate Media or doing impressions of farmyard animals for daughters Emily and Melissa, which is a bit worrying really as they are a bit old for all that now.
Linda Jones continues our Women who blog column with a chat to the editor of another kick-ass blog for women, by women. (Have I said 'women' enough?)
Jess McCabe is editor of the F-Word, a must-read "contemporary feminism" blog which I've only recently discovered, but enjoy immensely.
I laughed as I sat down to read it this evening, fresh from a spot of washing up, bringing the clothes in off the line and reading The Enormous Crocodile with my daughter.
But seriously, it's a brilliant read and answers many questions you may never have dared ask, but would still like to know the answer to. Have a good old trawl through its archives to see what they are.
How much time does it take up? Is this a paid or voluntary blogging position?
It's all voluntary - we don't have any advertising on The F Word. When I was just blogging, the time commitment wasn't that great. But I took over as editor of the site earlier this year, and so obviously it takes up a lot more of my time! But I love doing it, so I don't mind.
Linda Jones adds to our exploration of the things we love with a fond look at her native regional tongue.
My children are developing a Black Country accent. Asked what colour Daddy's shoes are, they say "brow-un." Some people, I know, will turn their nose up at this potentially disturbing news. The accent I mean, not the brown shoes. But I'm really very happy with it. Is there any more bostin’ phrase in a hit parade of regional dialects than: "Ow am ya cock?"
It’s a question that makes me glow inside. I remember my grandad uttering those very words while pressing a bar of Caramac into my eager hand circa 1976, and when he told me I was a ‘roight bobby dazzler’ I felt like a princess.
Linda Jones continues our look at funny women by shining a light on the career of the nation's favourite Nanna.
Paul O' Grady reckons she should be a dame. I agree with him. The delightful Liz Smith is a national treasure.
From playing a scene-stealing granny in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, to breaking all our hearts as the late lamented Nanna in The Royle Family, Liz Smith is the most watchable pensioner I know.
Her autobiography Our Betty describes her life before she won her first professional role at the age of 50. Divorced in 1959, she brought up two children on her own. Go Liz!
Related: Funny women: Caroline Aherne.
Linda Jones once laughed so hard at The Royle Family she went into labour. Her twin girls are now eight years old and she blogs about the fun they all have at You've Got Your Hands Full.
Are online health sites responsible for a hypochondria epidemic? Linda Jones reports...
Why are online health sites such a pain to use? I'd avoid those pesky harbingers of doom at all costs, if I were you. I recently made a bit of a boob after seeking medical advice at the click of a mouse. Okay so it's good to play it safe, but how much must hard-pressed GPs be ruing the day these mines of mis-information stole some of their thunder?
They have so much to answer for. If I hadn't logged on before a recent breast check up, I suspect I wouldn't have given it a second thought. Gullible I may be, but I’ve already warned my partner of possible impending tragedy, worried my mum and alerted work to the fact that they were going to be ‘one down – possibly for some time.’ And all because I’d typed the words ‘breast lump’ into a computer.
Linda Jones continues our weekly look at women who blog, with Little Red Boat in the hotseat.
Name: Anna Pickard
Occupation: Writer
Blog: Little Red Boat
Blogging since: 2001
I'm a relative newcomer to the must-read Little Red Boat."God she's good. What's even better is she's good for reasons nobody else is." That's what Gaping Void had to say about Anna Pickard, and there can't be many out there who disagree.
On a scale of one to ten, how much fun is blogging, and why?
It should be almost always a ten, surely - or what's the point? There would clearly be no reason to do it if it was a chore, it's a hobby, after all (well, it is for most of us, for you I realise it's more of a work thing) - and when I get to do it at the moment, it IS 8, 9, 10. When I can find the time and energy, which is being a bit hard. THAT's a 1. Booooo.
This week's funny woman made Linda Jones laugh so much she though she'd cry one evening in October 2005 on Blackpool's sadly-missed North Pier theatre.
Okay, so I love The Krankies, get over it.
Some think it's odd that a woman old enough to be a grandma should be dressing up as a wee boy, but I think it's fandabidozee. (What else?)
Comic Dawn French is one of their biggest fans. And how lovely to see them here:
How are women at the helm of a company treated? Linda Jones gives a personal insight...
I’ve worked hard over the last four years to build up a business.
Turnover has been respectable – not the biggest pile of cash in the world granted - but when you consider I’ve been able to work part-time round my family, I happen to think it is quite an achievement.
My business partner has even won an award and we have been praised in a national report on flexible working.
We are an all-woman firm. There are five of us and we are all mums. I now work full-time hours as does my fellow director, Carol, whom I met at antenatal classes. Our colleagues work part time around their families.
Linda Jones continues our look at the diversity of women bloggers with the lowdown on a Russian poet inolved in the Manchester blogging scene.
Name: Julie Delvaux
Blog: Notebooks
Blogging since: August 2006
Why did you start to blog?
I have seen many blogs between, say, 2003 and 2006, but virtually all of them struck me as following too narrow a path or pursuing one single subject. I was a writer, historian, journalist, and also had many interests, so I didn’t really want to restrict myself.
Then two things happened. I was doing a programme on the local web radio, for which I had a homepage. And on that homepage I began to put up different quotes or news items that I found interesting.
Linda Jones continues our weekly Funny Women column, wistfully wondering if she'll ever meet her talented near neighbour.
You've heard this theory of six degrees of separation between any two human beings (or possibly just US film actors?) right?
Well I do so like to cling on to my "almost claim to fame" where Meera Syal is concerned.
Living but a stone's throw from where Meera grew up, there's a certain inevitability about her becoming a heroine of mine. Who couldn't love her, having read the bostin' Anita and Me?
You reckon a visit to the doc's for a breast check-up is a sombre affair? Think again, says Linda Jones...
I went to the doctor's with a heavy heart yesterday, convinced I possibly had months to live. I'd've liked to have emerged punching the air like some reprieved heroine in a cheesy film. But I'm still waiting.
Why? Well, if you'll pardon the expression, it's because my t*ts are too big. Or as the lovely Keris put it, having confided in her (by email, as you do) I can boast of "gargantuan boobage."
My GP copped a feel to check after I explained I believed I may have found a lump. Then she announced, a little too cheerfully for my liking, "with the best will in the world, that is a very big breast so I can't feel properly!" Laughing nervously, I nearly had her eye out.
Linda Jones interviews Ellee Seymour for our weekly Women who blog column...
Name: Ellee Seymour
Occupation: PR consultant and journalist
Blog: Elleeseymour.com
Blogging since: February 2006
Deep breath, here goes. I don't share many of Ellee Seymour's party political views. (Okay, scratch that, I possibly don't share any of them) but I'm all for honesty, decency and warmth - which even a soft-hearted leftie like me can see ooze out of her blog.
What’s your blog about and what inspired you to write it?
I met Geoff Jones at Cambridge Toastmasters. He offered to set me up with a blog. I now write about news and politics, women's issues and the environment, PR and social media. It's very much a miscellany of life.
She's a genius you know. As a nation, we have a lot to thank her for - not least the magnificent creation of a certain Mrs Merton and Mr Royle. Who'd have thought "My arse" could become such a compelling catchphrase? (That's Jim's of course, not mine...are you still with me?)
I even enjoyed the ill-fated Dossa and Joe, despite hearing a friend once left her dog in front of it and on her return, he'd switched it over. Boy, some people hated it.
Personally, I have a little more to thank her for.
But there is something even more remarkable about Caroline, imho as those clever t'internet types say. Not only has she carved out a career as a leading comedy writer and actress, she has also done it while being blighted by the recurring nightmare of serious depression.
I love her for that. How many of us suffer from return visits of this "black dog" but prefer to keep schtum for fear of the stigma making our friends, acquaintances, contacts and colleagues run screaming for the hills?
Good on you Caroline. Long may Jim's arse reign supreme. Now isn't that a lovely mental image?
Linda Jones interviews Emily Turner about her blog "Doing It All Again" for our weekly "Women Who Blog" column...
Name: Emily Turner
Occupation: Mum and writer
Blog: Doing it all again
Blogging since: October 2005
One minute it's spit-your-coffee-out hilarious, the next it's so very thought provoking. Always eminently readable and compelling, it's a blog I visit every day. Even if she hasn't posted, she will have taken the time to respond to her commenters, having mulled over experiences they've decided to confide with her and sharing her own sensitive view or advice.
What's your blog about and what inspired you to write it?
I started blogging to vent my worries about being pregnant for the second time and "doing it all again" while dealing with a toddler and the stresses of an insecure freelance career as a journalist/PR consultant. It ended up being a frank, open and honest account of my life, including the 10 years of child abuse I suffered and my teenage pregnancy. The internet gave me a place to write about my experiences. Discussing them in the comments section and on other blogs strengthened my opinions on such sensitive issues. I could have written under a pseudonym or anonymously but I felt strongly that I should use my real name to show I was real and that I was not ashamed to tell it how it really is.
