Old Comedian Of The Year contest opens

A new comedy competition has been launched for older comedians.

Producers of the New Comedian Of the Year competition held at London's Leicester Square Theatre have now added an Old Comedian Of The Year.

They said: 'Forget cheery optimism and skinny jeans. At last, a competition for comics who've been around long enough to know better.'

The contest, which has a £1,000 top prize, is open to anyone over 35 who has been performing for five years or more, and not making a living from performing comedy.

It follows the Silver Stand-Up award handed out by the Leicester Comedy Festival over the past three years for comics aged over 55. Previous winners were Shelley Bridgman, Marc Lucero and Peter Callaghan – with this year's champion begin crowned next Thursday.

The new Old Comedian Of The Year contest welcomes entries from character acts, musical acts and sketch groups as well as stand-ups.

Heats and semi-finals will be held at the Museum of Comedy in April and May with the final on June 7 at Leicester Square. There are also two runners-up prizes of £500 and £250.

Entry is restricted to 100 places – apply at museumofcomedy.com 

Published: 3 Feb 2015