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Scott Bennett leads the Midlands comedy awards

Nottingham-based Scott Bennett has been named best act at the Midlands Comedy Awards for the second year running, with Josh Pugh once again taking the runner-up spot.

However, Josh Pugh did win the best live show award for his hour Maybe The Real Comedy Awards Are The Friends We Make Along The Way.

In the best MC category, relative newcomers Tommy Tomski and Chris Oxenbury were joint winners, pushing the more established Barry Dodds and James Cook into the runners-up spot. Dodds had comfortably taken the prize in the previous four years.

The alternative act category was also shared: between sketch duo Good Kids (Kieran Ahern and Tom Dowling) and character comedian Donald Mackerel – perhaps best known for his Mr. Badger and Mr. Penguin onstage personas. Former winner Roger Swift was third.

The best new act prize went to Lovell Smith from Birmingham, with Tamworth’s Tal Davies runner-up and Hannah Weetman in third place.

Meanwhile, last year’s Best New Act, Douglas Carter, was given the Rising Star award for 2019, ahead of Celya AB in second place and Mary Flanigan in third.

Finally, Black Country comedian Jack Kirwan won the online comedy award for a series of sketches and monologues that have achieved viral success over the last few years. Newcomer Katy Trev, who has been building a following through Instagram, was runner-up.

For the third year in a row Birmingham’s Glee Club won best comedy club, while the best small club gong went to Ofton Funny in Alfreton – which is run by Best MC winner Tommy Tomski. The best open mic show award went to the recently-established Birmingham gig Useful Idiot.

All finalists and winners were chosen by promoters and performers from the Midlands comedy community.

The awards were organised by Birmingham-based comic Jay Shareef, who previously performed under the stage name of Jay Islaam.

Shareef saod: ‘This is the sixth time we’ve run these awards, and it’s great to see that the regional comedy community continues to recognise brand new talent every year. In addition to our skilled veterans, a lot of rising stars of the local scene are also starting to make their mark and that’s reflected in the list of nominees.’