Stand up for comedy
Virgin Money sponsors gala event
Graduates from Edinburgh's Comedy Academy performed at The Stand Comedy Club on 15 August in a special, one-off show.
The inaugural ‘Stand Up For Comedy', sponsored by Virgin Money was the culmination of a series of master classes and workshops for 18 to 25 year-olds interested in pursuing a career in stand up comedy, or simply learning the fundamentals of performing.
Students attend 10 courses - dubbed ‘The Comedy Academy' - with the final gala event on 15 August giving them the chance to perform to a paying audience.
Courses include performance skills, interacting with the audience and structuring a routine. The students on this year's course include a chef, bar steward, civil engineer, accountant, actor and designer.
The gala evening, which saw performances from 15 students, was hosted by Susan Morrison, a favourite on the Scottish comedy scene, with a special headline guest.
Grant Bather, spokesman at Virgin Money, said: “Virgin Money's aim is to make everyone better off and with our sponsorship of the Fringe Comedy Academy we're aiming to get everyone smiling. The Academy provides young aspiring comedians with tips on the art of making people laugh for a living and give the participants the platform to perform in front of a paying audience at the end of their course.”
Paulie Cronin, from Dundalk in Ireland, joined the Academy in May and appeared in the show. A civil engineer who has been combining his comedy studies with working on Transport Scotland's South West Roads Maintenance Contract, he said: “This has been a great course and has given me plenty of new practical skills and improved my confidence on stage. I have been really looking forward to the gala event as an opportunity to perform in front of some of the most knowledgeable comedy fans in the country.”
The Comedy Academy was launched in May 2011 and is a three-year education and outreach programme. Its aim is to encourage Fringe participation from young people in Edinburgh and Central Scotland.
About Virgin Money
- Virgin Money is Virgin's financial services arm and was established in 1995 as a joint venture between the Virgin Group and Norwich Union.
- In 1997, Virgin Direct Personal Financial Services Limited launched The Virgin One Account, a joint venture with The Royal Bank of Scotland that offered the UK's first current account mortgage direct to the retail market. In 2001, RBS bought out the Virgin Group's stake in the joint venture.
- Following an investment of £100m of new capital by WL Ross in April 2010, Virgin Money is 79% owned by Virgin Group, with 21% ownership by WL Ross.
- Virgin Money currently has over 3 million customers and offers Payment Cards (Credit Cards & Prepaid Cards), Savings and Investment products (Stakeholder Pensions, Children's Pensions, Employers Pensions, FTSE Tracker ISA, Bond & Gilt ISA, Climate Change ISA, Cash ISA, and Unit Trusts), General Insurance products (Motor, Home, Travel, and Pet) and Life Assurance products to the UK market. To apply go to virginmoney.com.
- Virgin Money's business ambition is to make ‘everyone better off' – this philosophy underpins our approach to business by offering good value to customers, treating employees well, making a positive contribution to society and delivering a profit to shareholders.
- Virgin is the official sponsor of the London Marathon, the biggest annual fundraising event in the world. Virgin Money, the banking division of the Virgin Group, leads the London Marathon sponsorship with the ambition to help runners raise £¼ billion over 5 years and will use its infrastructure, online capability and financial expertise to deliver that through Virgin Money Giving.
- Virgin Money has signed a three-year deal to be the official sponsor of Edinburgh's ‘Fringe on the High Street'.
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