Musical Comedy Awards 2014 - The Final 20
The WeGotTickets Musical Comedy Awards 2014 is now entering the Quarter-Final stage after record numbers took part in the first round shows at the competition's new home, the Black Heart in Camden.
40 acts have now been whittled down to 20, with the Quarter-Finals taking place over the next couple of weekends between 1:30pm and 4pm.
The 15th February will be headlined by 2011 winners Jollyboat and 22nd February by 2009 Best Newcomer Jay Foreman.
Here is a short profile of each of the acts that have made it to the Quarter-Finals this year, supplied by the comedians themselves. Good luck to all 20!
Aidan Strangeman
Aidan Strangeman's comedy songs and performance received rave reviews as part of the highly-rated Irish stage show Singlehood in 2012, and since mid-2013 he has been steadily writing and performing new songs for his debut solo musical comedy show.
"Hilarious" - Irish Times. "A laugh out loud crowd-pleaser" - Examiner.com. "Great, catchy, original musical numbers" - Journal.ie
Bob & Jim
Bob and Jim have been performing together as Bob and Jim for many years. They have produced three acclaimed Edinburgh shows and were MCA finalists in 2012.
'This offbeat duo's updated take on vaudeville is a delight. I laughed like a loon!' (Fringe Guru). 'Laid-back and on-point' (Three Weeks), these 'old pros' (Chortle) deliver 'charming buffoonery that is impossible to resist' (The List). With their 'superb comic timing' (Funny Women) this 'hilarious duo' (Broadway Baby) dole out 'proper belly laughs and a real sense of fun' (British Comedy Guide). 'Watch out for these lads' (The Scotsman).
Chris Joyce
Chris is the South East's most notable 6ft6, keyboard playing, rapping, singing, robot dancing comedian, with performances that offer a unique brand of tongue-in-cheek ballades and raw Kentish hip-hop..... Having had several years experience in writing and producing comedy in various forms, Chris threw himself into performing on the open-mic circuit in January 2013. With 13 months on the board and close to 150 gigs quickly racked up, Chris has already achieved recognition as an exciting one to watch, claiming a runner-up spot in the Cavendish Arms Summer Cup and a finalist place in January's Max Turner Competition.
Cool Beans
Thrust into the cold Yorkshire air in the winter of 2010, the Cool Beans Collective have spent the last 3 years travelling up and down the country in search of 'true love & happiness'. Having found neither they turned to musical comedy in an attempt to make sense of this crazy, mixed up world in which we live in. After taking The Cool Beans Guide To Life to the Edinburgh Fringe in 2013 and winning a variety of small time, local awards (Best Forge Media Show Winners & 2W2MI Audience Awards Winners) they now find themselves in the Quarter Finals of the Musical Comedy Awards wondering how the flip they got there.
Cribb & Morgan
Cribb and Morgan is made up of human man Dave Cribb and conference planner Simon Morgan. They've known each other since school, although that realistically has very little bearing on their output. Over the last six months, they have amassed a number of non-viral hits, including Please Don't Tell Me What Happened In Breaking Bad and 2013: The Newsical, for which they received some praise from at least three people they hadn't previously met. They are currently putting the finishing touches to a very droll review of the London 2012 Olympics, and are hoping they haven't missed the window. They're pretty sure it's still topical though, so it's all fine.
Daniel Shirley
Daniel Shirley has dipped his toe into comedy for many years, writing and producing comedy virals for businesses and writing sketches for radio and online comedy shows. However, before the 2014 MCAs, Daniel had never performed live. The music video he entered the MCAs with was shot with nothing but a make shift green screen in his kitchen and some slick editing skills. Now, with a library of ridiculous songs he'd made 'just for fun', he's finally been convinced by his peers to perform them live. So the man with the pen, behind the camera, sat at the edit suite, messing around with the midi keyboard is now taking to the stage. Why? Well as he puts it, "it seems like fun!".
David Elms
David Elms is a hugely exciting comedy performer and writer. Chortle Student finalist and winner of Edinburgh University Comedian of the Year, David has performed his comedic songs and stand up comedy sets at festivals and venues across the UK, including the Latitude Festival, Bloomsbury Theatre and Leicester Square Theatre. His broadcaster credits include BBC Comedy Presents, the BBC 3 Edinburgh Marathon Show and various sketch roles for the Sam & Steve's Silent Sketch Show pilot. David is the creator and host of Time Out Critic's Choice London stand up night - Dave Has Mates and is a highly skilled comedy improviser, performing regularly with the acclaimed group The Improverts.
David Jordan
After a successful stint as a solo singer songwriter, David Jordan brings his unique talent to the world of stand-up, combining his brilliant voice with carefully crafted, edgy songs. In the short time since starting, David has already written for Radio 4's The News Quiz, composed music for Comedy Central's Seann Walsh World and performed his mix of hilarious songs and sly social comment to sell-out audiences in London's West End at several high-profile benefits alongside flesh versions of most of his DVD collection including Stewart Lee, Richard Herring and Mark Thomas. He was then subsequently hand-picked to support Francesca Martinez on her UK tour.
Folk On
Something's stirring in the village of Little Dribblepatch...it's Derek Tinkleberry, Donald Cornfoot and Edmund Sidebottam, otherwise known as Folk On - the finest comedy folk band since The Hay Bale Boys (and who remembers them?). Having honed their craft when Mumford & Sons were still just a furniture removal company, Folk On's sound is honest and pure, with tight rural harmonies and melodies as sweet as village fete jam. Their songs and tales of life in the countryside always bring a smile to the face, a tear to the eye and an insatiable desire to join in with a good old-fashioned village sing-along.
Gatis Kandis
Gatis Kandis... Britain's Got Talent 2012 Semi Finalist and Big Brother comic legend...
"...For me, you're the funniest Latvian comedian in the world" - (David Walliams)
"...You're hysterical. I love you!" - (Alesha Dixon)
"...Oh my God! It was funny, in a really odd, bizarre way" - (Amanda Holden)
"...It's so terrible it's fantastic... Your jokes are like something out of a Latvian cracker" - (Simon Cowell)
James McDonnell
James McDonnell is a Brighton-based musical comedian whose songs have won him numerous accolades including 'Best Soundtrack for breeding Pandas'. This may explain their low birth rates. Other species James has brought to extinction include the polish cheetah, the Saharan Great White Shark and Westlife. He has a number of high-profile support slots under his belt, a world tour of Hull and has MC'd with the best of them. He is also a Virgo and loves Lasagne.
Kate Lucas
"You know, when you walked on I assumed you'd be sh*t but I really enjoyed that" - One of the many pieces of glowing audience feedback for Kate Lucas. Kate Lucas is a musical comic whose comedy is "A perfect mix of funny and just a little bit vulgar" (Broadway Baby, Big Value review 2013) Her songs introduce some "unusual" perspectives and some very weird and wonderful characters...
Laurence Owen
Deadpan musical comedy "genius" (BroadwayBaby) Laurence Owen has sung troublesome songs of sex and bad manners on the comedy and cabaret circuits since 2011. Backed by a rowdy clatter of guitar, Laurence's bookish storytelling style and dark, spiky observations come with all the blood and thunder of Scott Walker, but through the eyes of someone who might once have captained the school chess club. Laurence has looked down on audiences at the likes of Madame Jojo's, Royal Vauxhall Tavern, Mitch Benn's Distraction Club, The Double R Club, Cafe De Paris, Soho Theatre, Leicester Square Theatre, Bush Hall, The Aeronaut and more. He is also an award-winning film and theatre composer.
Luis Forte
Presenting Luis Forte, the Edinburgh comedian and complete fool who quit university to run away from home with only four years of higher education, a nice fiancé and an incontinent cat. With nothing but a beard and a guitar, Luis transforms personal tragedy into musical comedy before your very eyes with not a hint of remorse. When he's not performing his infamous routine which garnered such choice reviews as 'Totally disrespectful to your family Luis' -Angry Sister and 'Not a real job' -Estranged Father, you'll find him cackling to himself in public, writing or designing.
Madame Magenta (aka Lindsay Sharman)
Former actress and go-go dancer Lindsay Sharman has been on the comedy circuit for about four years now. She was in the final of the formerly Hackney Empire New Act of the Year competition 2013, performing as a comedy beat poet character, and came third doing stand-up at the 2013 Piccadilly New Act of the Year Competition. She is the regular compere of Pull the Other One which allows her to inflict all manner of weirdness on audiences.
Rogue 5
Have you ever wondered what would happen if you crossed a boy band with talent? ROGUE 5, that's what! A comedy boy band consisting of Romeo, Winston and Keef. Five normal guys who will blow your mind, then blow your money... Don't think of them as a boy band though, think of them as... Nah, they're definitely a boy band and they're probably not that different. But don't hold that against them just because you're jealous! Front man, Romeo will bring you into their world of pop stardom and the band hood rat, Winston will bring you into his world of casual drug use. Ignore Keef though, he's not important. You never know, they may even make a second album. (Probably not).
Rosalind Peters
Rosalind Peters writes songs and people laugh at them. And sometimes she does musical comedy. Accompanying herself on keyboard and ukulele (but not both at once - yet), Peters was recently described as a mix of Kate Nash and Dick Van Dyke. Previous praise highlights: 'musical comedy at its very best' (The Cambridge Student), 'impeccable comic timing' (Cambridge Theatre Review), 'lovely singing voice' (Varsity), 'lmao haha' (YouTube). Having just dedicated much time and energy to her first ever one-woman-show, performed at the University of Cambridge where she is in her last year of studies, Peters is now looking to sell her ukulele to buy her better grades in her finals. Anyone interested, get in touch.
facebook.com/rosalindpetersmusic
Steve Bennett
Steve Bennett is a charismatic and energetic musical comedian from the heart of Ireland. He blends a witty and charming stand-up style with guitar and ukulele comedy. In 2013, he performed his first solo hour In Bits - a comedy about finding the cure for the break-up hangover, to packed-out rooms for the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. He is currently making a name for himself as an engaging crowd pleaser on the Irish circuit and beyond. You can see his stand-up, music, sketches and more on his website.
Tom Taylor
So You Think You're Funny? 2013 finalist and Ten Foot City New Comedian of the Year 2013 winner, Tom Taylor, has been performing on the UK comedy circuit since July 2011. His unique brand of musical comedy is smart and silly in equal measure and he can boast an impressive stock of quirky, and very funny, musical one-liners as well as some truly torturous puns. "Immediately caught my eye" (Bruce Dessau, Evening Standard). "Has a winning way with the audience and some unusual ideas, involving musical comedy and saying things to people until it becomes awkward and funny." (Paul Foot)
We Are Goose
We Are Goose leave no subject unbroached, from insect wives and clone orgies to the macabre world of enlightenment surgery. They weave stories and truths from an arsenal of witty songs (referencing blues, doo-wap, rap and more) and sometimes by throwing satsumas around. The last two jam-packed years have seen We Are Goose curate the comedy stage at the Southbank Centre's New Year's Eve celebrations, become regulars of Josie Long's Lost Treasures of the Black Heart, Mitch Benn's Distraction Club, and Laugh Out London, supporting Rachel Parris, Bridget Christie and Kevin Eldon among others. Last August they performed their five star one-hour month-long Edinburgh Fringe show with the Udderbelly. Working from a central Brighton studio, they are regular fixtures at comedy nights in London, the South East and beyond. wearegoose.co.uk
The competition continues at the Black Heart with the semi-finals on the 15th March and 22nd March. The shows are always jam-packed, so book in advance via WeGotTickets.com
Tickets are also available for the Grand Final on April 25th at the Bloomsbury Theatre, with headline performances from Loretta Maine and another set from Jay Foreman. This show has sold out every year since the first MCA Final in 2009, so make sure you snap your tickets up quickly.
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