Semi-final heats of the Komedia New Comedy Award, where aspiring stand-up comedians compete for a place in the final.
Komedia hosts the semi-final heats of the Komedia New Comedy Award on Sunday 17 January 2027, with two shows on the day: a matinee at 14:00 (doors 13:30) and an evening set at 18:30 (doors 18:00). A third heat follows on Sunday 24 January at 18:30 (doors 18:00), all held in Komedia Studio at 44-7 Gardner Street, BN1 1UN. The Grand Final then moves to the Komedia Basement on Wednesday 10 February at 20:00 (doors 19:00).
If you're not familiar with it, the award was set up in 2020 by Komedia co-founder Marina Kobler, Jill Edwards of the Comic Boom comedy club, and arts journalist Victoria Nangle. It's aimed at discovering new stand-ups: it's open to comics who've been gigging regularly for less than three years and haven't won a major comedy competition. To enter, they submit a seven-minute original set and a clip of it. Each semi-final heat brings together a small group of the best new comics chosen from hundreds of entries, with the room rounded out by MCs and judges drawn from award-winning television comedians and leading figures in the comedy industry.
Every week we pick 🏆 the 5 best 🏆 things to do in Brighton and send them to your inbox. Just one weekly email, no spam.
By submitting your email, you accept our Privacy Policy
The winner takes home a bespoke award, a bottle of celebratory fizz, and a spot at Comic Boom, the comedy club run by Jill Edwards at Komedia. It's a good place to see people early in their careers; past winners and finalists include Andrew Fox, Sydney May, Jack Skipper, Michael Akadiri, Sam Williams, Shalaka Kurup, Daman Bamrah, Christian Jegard, Elaine Fellows, and Wes Defoe. The semi-finals are where the field narrows down to the finalists who'll compete for the title in February.
