BBC New Comedy Award

BBC New Comedy Award
Awarded forBest in new stand-up comedy talent
CountryUnited Kingdom
First awarded1995
2011 (revival)
Last awarded2005
Currently held byJoe Kent-Walters (2023)
WebsiteBBC New Comedy Award at BBC Online
Television/radio coverage
Network

The BBC New Comedy Award first took place in 1995, and it is considered to be one of the top UK comedy newcomer awards.

It was axed in 2006, being replaced by a nationwide talent hunt that places its emphasis on sketch writing and filmed performance. However, in March 2011 the BBC Radio New Comedy Award was relaunched in conjunction with BBC Radio 2,[1] and ran as a joint project between Radio 2 and BBC Radio 4 Extra. The arrangement was for Radio 4 Extra to broadcast the heats and semi-finals of the contest, whilst Radio 2 (later Radio 4) broadcasts the live final. The 2021 series moved online to BBC Three, with a repeat broadcast on BBC One. By the 2022 contest, BBC Three had returned to terrestrial TV, so the heats were aired on that channel and the final aired on BBC One.

Winners & finalists

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The finals of this event have boasted many well known names that have continued to work in comedy to great acclaim - amongst the winners of the award are: Julian Barratt (1995), Marcus Brigstocke (1996), Paul Foot (1997), Josie Long (1999), Alan Carr (2001), Nina Conti (2002), Rhod Gilbert (2003), Angela Barnes (2011) and Lost Voice Guy (2014). Other notable finalists include Peter Kay, Bennett Arron, Lee Mack, Russell Howard, Daniel Kitson, Justin Lee Collins, David O'Doherty, Shappi Khorsandi, Joe Lycett and Sarah Millican.[2][3]

Year Winner Finalists
1995 Julian Barratt[4] Daniel Kitson
Silky
Lee Mack
Ambrose Martose
Viv Gee
Jeff Mirza
1996 Marcus Brigstocke[4]
Jenny Ross[5]
Chris Addison
Alan Doyle
Addy Van Der Borgh
Neil Bromley
Marian Kilpatrick
Bob May
1997 Paul Foot[4] Bennett Arron
Justin Lee Collins
Craig Crookston
Neil Anthony
Gareth Hughes
Peter Kay
Deirdre O'Kane
1998 Dan Antopolski[4] Mary Bourke
Tony Coffey
Rhodri Crooks
Danny Oakes
Dan Tetsell
Helen Pilcher
Caroline Quinlan
1999 Josie Long[4] David O'Doherty
Marc Small
Matthew Walters
Scott Pragnell
Colin Ward
Steve Harris
2000 Jason John Whitehead[4] Anthony J Brown
Angie McEvoy
Shappi Khorsandi
Paddy Bramwells
Billy Dufus
Alan Hulcoop
Des McLean
2001 Alan Carr[4] Marcus Birdman
Keith Carter (as "Nige")
Jarred Christmas
Michael Downey
Des Clarke
Rob Deering
Russell Howard
Justin Moorhouse
2002 Nina Conti[4] Dylan
Bob Kobe
Paul Kerensa
Gary Delaney
Stefano Paolini
Ninia Benjamin
Karl Spain
2003 Rhod Gilbert[4] Michael Anderson
Greg Cook (runner-up)
Steve Hall (runner-up)
Ava Vidal
"Lloydy the illegal street trader"
2004 Andrew Lawrence Liam Mullone
David Nicholls
Jarlath Regan
James Sherwood (runner-up)
Danielle Ward (runner-up)
2005 Tom Allen[4] Edward Aczel (runner-up)
James Branch
Aaron Counter
Sarah Millican (runner-up)
John-Luke Roberts
2011 Angela Barnes[4] Pat Cahill
Tez Ilyas
Joe Lycett
Mark Restuccia
Chris Turner
2012 Lucy Beaumont[4] Pete Otway
Sunil Patel
Matt Rees
Tommy Rowson
Matthew Winning
2013 Steve Bugeja[4] Jonny Pelham
Ean Luckhurst
Mark Silcox
Peter Brush
Rob Carter
2014 Lost Voice Guy[4] Hari Sriskantha
Thomas Ward
Tom Little
Amir Khoshokhan
Brennan Reece
2015 Yuriko Kotani[4] Russ Peers
Athena Kugblenu
Michael Stranney
Ken Cheng
Andy Storey
2016 Jethro Bradley[4] Catherine Bohart
George Lewis
Michael Odewale
Lauren Pattison
Sindhu Vee
2017 Heidi Regan[4] Andy Field
Morgan Rees[nb 1][6]
Jacob Hawley
Aaron Simmonds
Sikisa
2018 Stephen Buchanan[4] Helen Bauer
Isa Bonachera
Mamoun Elagab
Sarah Mann
William Stone
2019 Janine Harouni[7] [8]
Mo Omar
Josh Jones
Donald Alexander
Hannah Platt
2021 Anna Thomas[9] [9]
Lily Phillips
Celya AB
Liam Farrelly
Molly McGuinness
William Thompson
2022 Dan Tiernan[10] [11]
Dee Allum
Omar Badaway
Robbie McShane
Marjolein Robertson
Joshua Bethania
2023 Joe Kent-Walters (as Frankie Monroe)[12] [13]

Kit Rees (as Hester Ectomy)
Jin Hao Li
Chantel Nash
Dean T Beirne
Paddy Young

Notes

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  1. ^ Morgan Rees replaced Yumna Mohamed who withdrew due to a family emergency

References

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  1. ^ "BBC - Radio 2 - New Comedy Award 2011".
  2. ^ "BBC – Press Office – Radio 2 announces winner of New Comedy Award 2011". BBC. 20 June 2011.
  3. ^ "About the BBC New Comedy Award". BBC Radio 4.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r "BBC Three – BBC New Comedy Awards – About the New Comedy Awards". BBC.
  5. ^ "BBC New Comedy Award – UKGameshows". UKGameshows.com. Retrieved 9 November 2021.
  6. ^ "BBC New Comedy finalist pulls out: News 2017". Chortle.co.uk. 11 August 2017.
  7. ^ "BBC New Comedy Awards – 2019 – 2019 Final Results – BBC Sounds". BBC. 15 August 2019.
  8. ^ "BBC New Comedy Awards – 2019 – 2019 Final – BBC Sounds". BBC. 15 August 2019.
  9. ^ a b Bennett, Steve. "Anna Thomas wins the BBC New Comedy Award : News 2021 : Chortle : The UK Comedy Guide". Chortle.co.uk.
  10. ^ "Dan Tiernan wins BBC New Comedy Awards 2022". British Comedy Guide. 9 November 2022.
  11. ^ "BBC New Comedy Awards 2022, Episode 7 - Cardiff - Grand Final". British Comedy Guide. 9 November 2022.
  12. ^ "Joe Kent-Walters wins BBC New Comedy Awards 2023 as Frankie Monroe". British Comedy Guide. 15 November 2023.
  13. ^ "BBC New Comedy Awards Final 2023 - Meet host Rosie Jones, the Guest Judges and Finalists".
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