Consignia win Alternative New Comedian of the Year 2016

Comedy duo Consignia have won the Alternative New Comedian of the Year 2016 title.

Phil Jarvis and Andy Barr, who performed at the final on Thursday 22nd December, took home the 'grand prize' of £8.

This was the fifth year of the competition. Organiser Gareth Morinan explains: "An audience of over 65 witnessed as 12 pioneering comedy acts competed for this great accolade. This is the first year the award has gone to a double act, but as with previous years the winning performance managed to find hilarity within truly bizarre concepts."

Rebekka Turner and Aniruddh Ojha (the latter performing as Jiminy H. Criquet) were the runners up, and in keeping with the anarchic spirit of the awards, their prize was £5 which should be used to help "fund their comedy careers".

Previous finalists of the competition include Louise Reay, Phil Lucas, Michael Brunstrom, Adam Larter, Gatis Kandis, The Storybeast, Beth Vyse and Richard Stainbank. Morinan says: "All have gone on to do great things, each providing their own inventive spin on the artform", adding tongue in cheek: "There is no doubt that success in this competition was the primary cause of all their later success."

The competition is expected to return in 2017. Morinan comments: "This competition may have started as a joke, but it continues as a serious way to find and recognise some incredibly creative comedians, so keep your eye out for these deserved winners."