Entries now open

Entries have opened for this year's BBC New Comedy Award.

Would-be comics are invited to upload five minutes of original material to be considered for places in a series of regional heats.

The winner of the competition - which has previously helped launch the careers of Peter Kay, Alan Carr, Josie Long and Rhod Gilbert – receives £1,000, a 15-minute script commission from BBC Radio Comedy and development advice.

2011 winner Angela Barnes appeared on Radio 4's flagship Today programme this morning to launch the contest.

She said that her victory changed her life: 'I was just an open-spot comic, it was just a hobby and now it's career; it's my full-time job.'

'Anyone can submit an entry - you've got nothing to lose.'

Last year's winner, Yuriko Kotani, has also recorded a video showing how the success helped her become a professional comic.

'Before comedy promoters used to slam doors in my face. Now people only slam the door for fire safety and to keep the draught out,' she joked.

This year's event is being run on Radio 4, after several years of being on Radio 2 – and heats are being staged earlier in the year, building up to the Edinburgh Fringe rather than launching there.

Highlights from each of the heats will be broadcast on Radio 4 Extra, and the final broadcast live from the Fringe on August 14.

Apply here by April 19.

Published: 23 Mar 2016