Hot Water's Breakthrough Act Of The Year FINAL

Hot Water Comedy is crowning its Comedian Of The Year on Sunday 1 November at Blackstock Market, the final of its Breakthrough Act Of The Year competition. It's the end of a long run of heats held throughout the year, which have whittled the field down to six acts who'll go head-to-head on a single night for the title. Past winners include Adam Rowe, Adam Staunton, Nina Gilligan and Jollyboat, so it's a competition with a decent track record of spotting people who go on to do bigger things.

The six finalists are Danny McLoughlin, Tabish Akbar, Liam Alexander, Tom McSharry, Charlie Lewis, Dawn Bailey and Oliver Bowler. There's a fair bit of ground covered across the line-up. Danny McLoughlin was a Chortle Student Comedian of the Year finalist in 2008 and played the 2009 Edinburgh Festival. Charlie Lewis is a former journalist who started performing three months before the pandemic and has since racked up over 60 million social media views. Oliver Bowler is a Bolton stand-up and actor who was shortlisted for the BBC New Comedy Awards and reached the semi-finals of So You Think You're Funny?.

Hot Water Comedy is one of the city's biggest promoters, and they run two award-winning, purpose-built comedy venues here in Liverpool. This final is held at their club within Blackstock Market, at 17 Blackstock Street, L3 6ER. Doors open at 17:30, and the show starts at 19:00. Tickets are free, though you can pay £5.00 for guaranteed entry if you'd rather not leave it to chance on the night.