Tickets to TV event now on sale

The British Comedy Awards are opening theirs doors to the public for the first time in their 21-year history.

Allowing fans into the eventful ceremony is one of several changes to the format of the ceremony this year, as it moves to a new home on Channel 4.

The show – again to be hosted by Jonathan Ross – will take place at IndigO2, within London’s O2 Arena, rather than TV studios. And the proceedings on January 22 will be broadcast live.

Channel 4 has poached the awards following a few difficult years with ITV, including the 2007 incident when the broadcaster decided not to air the show in the wake of the vote-rigging scandal two years earlier.

Shane Allen, Channel 4’s head of comedy, said: ‘The British Comedy Awards are crucial in recognising the excellence, originality and rude health of the comedy industry. At their best, the awards have a spirit of mischief, hilarity, surprise and danger about them, so C4 feels like a natural fit.’

Recent guests at the event have included Madonna, J.K Rowling, Jack Black, Samuel L. Jackson, Vivienne Westwood, Robbie Williams, Pamela Anderson and Stephen Hawking.

Click here to buy tickets, for £40 or £60 – or here for you chance to win a pair – plus a night in a hotel and chauffeur-driven transport – courtesy of Chortle and sponsors Fosters.

Published: 4 Jan 2011