Finalists of Radio 4 competition announced

The finalists in this year’s BBC new comedy award been announced.

Radio 4 last night aired the second semi-final of the prestigious talent hunt, reducing the field to just five acts.

The acts competing in the live final at the Edinburgh Fringe next Thursday – along with their official blurbs from the contest are as follows:

Donald Alexander: Best Newcomer at the Scottish Comedy Awards, this lanky, angular oddball comedy is a mixture of his stretched physicality, his surreal stories and one liners. He was recently seen on BBC Two Scotland's The Comedy Underground.

Hannah Platt: Hailing from the north west, Platt has a frank and acerbic approach to stand-up, never shying away from sensitive topics with brutal honesty and quick wit. 

Josh Jones: Purely by word of mouth recommendations between bookers, Josh Jones has gone from undetected to pro within a year. Manchester based Josh’s cheeky persona and high energy makes him instantly likeable on stage, making the entire audience his new best friends

Mo Omar: Welsh-Somali comedian, Mo Omar has performed up and down the country and even performed internationally for the British Forces. He also writes sketches for BBC Sesh under his own name and under the pen name Andy McNab.

Janine Harouni: New York native Janine Harouni has been performing stand-up for less than three years but is already one of the UK’s fastest-rising newcomers. Winner of both the Laughing Horse New Act of the Year 2018 and The 99 Club Female Comedy Bursary 2019, she has been featured on Comedy Central, Comic Relief, BBC Three and BBC Radio 4.

The competition is officially called the BBC Introducing Radio 4 Comedy Award.

Published: 9 Aug 2019