Local heroes
New awards for regional comedy
New awards have been set up to honour heroes of British regional comedy.
In two separate moves, the accolades have been tied in to the forthcoming comedy festivals in Brighton and Manchester.
The North West Comedy Awards will hand out categories in nine categories, from best stand-up to best performance on TV and film.
It incorporates the Les Dawson award for services to comedy in the region, which was first handed out last year - to Toby Hadoke, who runs the city’s XS Malarkey club.
Other categories in the awards, to be presented at a £70-a-head event on October 28, include best comedy club, best breakthrough act, best comedy writing and ‘best comedic performance in a soap’.
Judges include comedy critics Marissa Burgess and Mike Barnett, BBC radio’s Michelle Mullane and Eamonn O’Neal from Granada Media; and profits from the event will go to the Nordoff-Robbins Music Therapy charity.
The awards come less than a week after the inaugural Max Miller award, to be handed out at the Brighton Comedy Festival.
Named after the biggest star of music hall comedy, who was born in the Sussex resort, the award honours the most outstanding performance of the 16-day festival.
The winner, announced over the weekend of October 23, will get a bronze statue of the Cheeky Chappie, pictured.Published: 27 Sep 2004
