The finalists have been chosen for the 2021 British Comedy Guide Pro Talent Awards final, which will take place next year.
The awards are open exclusively to subscribers of BCG Pro, British Comedy Guide’s platform for comedy creatives and professionals working in the industry. The initial entry round involved members uploading a video of themselves performing.
The judging panel comprised of the BCG Pro team; journalist and Beyond The Joke editor Bruce Dessau; agents Kitty Laing and Isaac Storm; and booker and venue manager David Hardcastle.
The award is split in two self-identifying categories: one (‘Starter’) for those beginning their comedy careers and one (‘Pro’) for those who are more established. The above nominees are all in the Pro category and will now battle it for the crown in a live final with a public audience, to take place in 2021.
Additionally, the winner of the Starter category was picked outright by the judges and will perform at the live Pro final as part of their prize. From dozens of entries, judges picked musical comedian Bennet Kavanagh (pictured).
Kavanagh says: "I am delighted and a bit shocked to have won this. In all honesty I had forgotten I entered as I submitted my video a while ago and didn’t think I had much of a chance, so it came as a really nice surprise. After a difficult year this is exactly the good news I needed, and I’m looking forward to seeing the opportunities this will lead to. Thanks BCG!"
The finalists for the main prize are as follows:
Brandon Burke
American comedian Brandon Burke: a good ol’ country boy with a dash of red-neck and a small helping of queer. He's not fabulous but he's a hell of a good time.
Suchandrika Chakrabarti
Suchandrika Chakrabarti is a freelance journalist, podcaster and comedy writer who has always dreamed of trying stand-up comedy, but only managed to make that happen in January this year, which tells you something about her comic timing. She's a semi-finalist in the Funny Women Stage Awards 2020, and has been named by them as One to Watch.
Liz Guterbock
Liz Guterbock is a native Californian and London-based comedian. In her wry, story driven stand-up, Liz will give you a good picture of what happens when a Type-A personality moves to Britain, and things don't exactly go to plan.
Benjamin Lovell
East London-based, 20 something idiot telling people stories, some jokes if ya lucky. I’m just try to convince my friends to stop calling me Boring Ben.
Stuart Mitchell
Stuart recently followed in the footsteps of Dara O Briain, Paul Merton and Craig Ferguson by being handpicked to perform in the 'Best of the Edinburgh Fest' showcase at the Perth, Adelaide and Melbourne Comedy Festivals.
Luke Rollason
Luke Rollason is a big-eyed, big-haired thing in a turtleneck making physical comedy for popular people. His live shows have performed sell-out runs at the Soho Theatre and the Edinburgh Fringe. When it comes to comedy competitions, he has an uncontested losing streak.
The BCG Pro Talent Awards will return next year, with the annual Performance submission window running from August to October inclusive. Open to any live stage performers – stand-up, sketch or improv – entrants are encouraged to submit recordings of their act, filmed in any setting in the previous year.
The date for the live final will be announced in due course.
MORE ABOUT THE AWARDS: https://www.comedy.co.uk/pro/talent_awards/performance/
