Komedia is pleased to announce that the Komedia New Comedy Award, in association with award-winning Comic Boom comedy club and arts journalist Victoria Nangle, will now include an Audience Choice Award. In addition to announcing the Komedia New Comedy Award winner and runners up, for the first time, there will also be an Audience Choice Award winner announced at the Grand Final – voted for by ticket-holders on the night (Wednesday 10 February 2027).
The Komedia New Comedy Award is now open for entries for 2027 now, championing rising original comic voices for its sixth year. Online entry will remain open until Wednesday 30th September, with the semi-finals and final taking place in January and February 2026.
This year the semi-finals double down on Sundays, with Sunday 17 January 2027 (two heats) and Sunday 24 January 2027 (one heat) - with a specially discounted double show ticket available on the first Sunday.
Previous winners and finalists include Jack Skipper, Michael Akadiri, Sydney May, Shalaka Kurup, Andrew Fox, Daman Bamrah, Amelia Hamilton, Christian Jegard, Elaine Fellows, Wes Defoe and 2026 winner Michael Campuzano – continuing to rise on the national comedy circuit.
MCs and judges who have taken part during the run of the competition include award winning television comedians and leading respected figures from the comedy industry. Including worldwide promoter and comedy agent Mick Perrin, Beyond The Joke’s Bruce Dessau, award winning writer Tasha Dhanraj, The Bill Murray’s Barry Ferns, Chortle’s Steve Bennett and BBC Comedy’s Lulu Baker.
“Six years of Komedia New Comedy Award, going strong and a definite highlight in our comedy calendar!” says Komedia co-founder Marina Kobler, “We’re so much looking forward to welcoming our contestants in 2027, embracing the energy of new talent and witnessing emerging comedians breaking through.”
Jill Edwards of Comic Boom comedy club said, “I love discovering fresh and original new comic talent to nurture through the KNCA for our award winning Comic Boom comedy club at Komedia Brighton. Everyone involved in both is so passionate about facilitating a new generation of stand-up stars to emerge.”
“I can’t wait to see who is entering the competition this year” says Victoria Nangle. “Each year we’re hugely surprised and impressed by the quality of the entries, and I can’t wait to be ambushed by fresh angles of funniness again.”
Marina Kobler (Komedia), Jill Edwards (Comic Boom comedy club) and Victoria Nangle (arts journalist) came together in 2020 to create this award and have been delighted to see it grow and attract new talent each year. The aim of the Komedia New Comedy Award continues to be to discover and support exciting new comics, and to offer opportunities for development.
The Komedia New Comedy Award 2027 winner will get a bespoke award, a spot at Chortle award-winning (2024 & 2025) Comic Boom Comedy Club at Komedia, and a bottle of fizz.
The award is open to comedians who have been gigging regularly for less than three years but have not won any major comedy competition. They need a seven minute set of their own original stand-up material, and a clip of that set to send in with their application.
27 semi-finalists will be selected from clips and will be invited to perform across four semi-final heats. Further details for eligibility and how to enter will be available on the Komedia website.
A comic from each semi-final heat will be selected by the judges to go through to the Final, which will be MC’d by Barry Ferns, with additional finalists selected as wildcards.
For more information and to enter click here.
Fans can buy tickets here.
Pictured: 2026 winner Michael Campuzano, picture by James Ennis
