Entries Open For The Next Comedy Star As Flagship Competition Returns To Brighton

Saturday, 3 September 2022 06:00

By Dominic Kureen @WriteOnDom

A Brighton comedy club has announced the return of a prestigious competition for 2023.

The aim of the Komedia New Comedy Award is to discover and support exciting new comic talent, and to offer them opportunities to develop their comedy skills.

Inaugural Komedia New Comedy Award 2020 winner Michael Akadiri has gone from strength to strength since his triumphant win, establishing himself as a regular face on the comedy circuit.

Michael made his television debut on ITV’s The Stand Up Sketch Show, with his sell out debut show ‘No Scrubs’ premiering at the Pleasance Courtyard during this year's Edinburgh Fringe.

Entries for the Komedia New Comedy Award 2023 are now open, with the semi-finals and Final taking place in January and February 2023.

Jill Edwards of Comic Boom Comedy Club, which is running the awards in conjunction with Komedia, said:

“I am ridiculously excited we’re finally able to bring the Komedia New Comedy Award back after such challenging times for the industry.

"It feels like a great time to be celebrating all the exciting new comedians bursting through on the scene.

"I cannot wait to meet them all, and to crown one of them our Komedia New Comedy Award winner 2023!”

Applications will be open for the whole of September, with the eventual winner receiving a bespoke award, a bottle of fizz and a spot at Comic Boom comedy club at Komedia.

The award is open to comedians who have been gigging regularly for less than three years and have seven minutes of their own stand-up material, plus a clip they can send in with their application.

32 semi-finalists will be selected from clips and invited to perform across four semi-final heats.

Semi-finals take place on four consecutive Tuesdays next year from January 17.

Two comics from each one will be selected by the judges to go through to the Final, which will be MC’d by Brighton’s own Angela Barnes — a tour de force on the comedy circuit.