Following in the footsteps of some big stand-up stars

 Paul Hilleard has won this year’s BBC New Comedy Award.

He was crowned at a final at the Alexandra Theatre in Birmingham that was broadcast on BBC One tonight.

‘Sound, innit? Good, yeah, nice,’ he said after being announced as the winner.

They receives a paid commission to write and perform a 30-minute audio pilot under the mentorship of a BBC comedy commissioner, plus a trophy and £1,000 cash and a slot on live TV on Red Nose Day in March.

Hilleard, who won the Pontypridd heat, originates from South Wales and lives in Bristol as ‘there is no comedy scene in the valleys, just people talking into puddles’. 

He was previously a semi-finalist in Leicester Square Theatre’s New Comedian of the Year in 2023.

Other finalists were Dane Buckley, Paul Hilleard, Maia Tassalini, Marty Gleeson, Jonathan Oldfield and Jake Donaldson. The latter replaced Marie Goulbourne, who died unexpectedly at the age of 46 just five days after winning her heat in Lancaster.

The final was  hosted by former winner Lucy Beaumont  and the judges were Babatunde Aléshé, Josh Pugh and Shaparak Khorsandi.

Pugh said: 'It's so hard to choose a winner. The standard was so good. Real good variety. I've had a great night. Just laughed and really enjoyed it. It's been brilliant.'

Khorsandi joked that picking the victor 'was the hardest thing I have ever done. I've given birth, I've been through a divorce, I've emigrated, and I broke my toe last year. This trumped all of those things.'

And Aléshé agreed that 'they were all fantastic'.

Now in its 29th year, the BBC New Comedy Awards have helped launch the careers of many big comedy names including Peter Kay, Lee Mack, John Oliver, Russell Howard, Alan Carr, Sarah Millican, Josie Long and Joe Lycett. 

Last year’s winner, Joe Kent-Walters said after scooping the award ‘my life has changed in ways I could only have dreamed of’.

All the regional heats aired on BBC Three over the past weeks.

Made by: Phil McIntyre Television
Commissioned by: Jon Petrie, director of BBC Comedy
Series producer: Lindsay Jex
Executive producers: Lucy Ansbro and Jane Rogerson
Commissioning editors for the BBC: Ben Caudell, Navi Lamba and Roya Eslami.

Published: 13 Nov 2024