Musical Comedy Awards 2022 finalists

The finalists have been announced for the 2022 WeGotTickets Musical Comedy Awards. Due to take place on 9th April in London, this will be the 14th year of the competition which has previously helped launch the careers of the likes of Abandoman, Rachel Parris, Mae Martin, Jay Foreman and Frisky & Mannish.

The organisers say: "If you enjoy acts that combine comedy with music such as Bill Bailey, Tim Minchin and Flight Of The Conchords, you will love this show! The final of the 2022 WeGotTickets MCA will see twelve finalists who have progressed through heats at The Phoenix in London, battle it out at the Bloomsbury Theatre on April 9th, to win the musical comedy crown of this prestigious competition."

The show, which has been sell-out event every year since 2009, will be hosted by Nick Horseman and feature a headline set by Isy Suttie.

Below are the official biographies of the finalists:

Abigail Carter-Simpson

Abi is a stand-up and musical comedian hailing from the exotic realms of Essex. Her performing career spans nearly a decade and starting off as actor, she has appeared on Sky, Netflix, BBC1 and ITV. Abi began her venture into comedy four years ago and hasn't looked back - she most recently wrote her first WIP: It's A No From Me and has supported the likes of Stephen K Amos and Simon Brodkin. She continues to perform her stand-up across the country, with musical interludes of observational, self-deprecating and energetic style. She is buzzing to be a part of the MCA's 2022 and as a wildcard, sends massive thanks to those who voted! @abicartersimps

Amy Webber

Amy, a professional musician, started comedy in 2019 and has already made a name for herself. Using her MIDI piano, music software Ableton and her very well (if not overly) trained voice Amy entertains an audience with ease. As well as performing extensively on the Manchester and London circuit (including XS Malarkey, Vauxhall Comedy Club), and breaking into paid festival work, her imaginative and interactive debut solo show No Previous Experience sold out at the 2021 Women in Comedy Festival. Amy has written jingles for the likes of Youtuber Max Fosh and Woman's Hour and writes a monthly song based on the headlines for BBC Radio Manchester. @amywebbersop

Chris Timoney

Chris is a Northern Irish ukulele-stand up act who took up both shortly after moving to London some 10 years ago - interestingly, just as all of those things stopped being cool. He plays and sings a mixture of puerile, dead pan-poetic numbers that dabble in surreal observations and black comedy, all of which mainly focusing around the theme of love, food, drink, animals and the end of the world. A big music fan, Chris is always trying to do interesting things with the ukulele while simultaneously apologising for playing it. Someone who liked one of the songs suggested he enter the MCA so he did. He also wears a flat cap.

Jeff Japers

Jeff Japers originated from Glossop in the North of England, and moved to Pontypridd in South Wales in 1992. He's been writing comedy songs for over 20 years, performing them on the Welsh music scene to great acclaim, both with his band Gaudy Orde and as a solo artist. In 2015 he brought his songs to the comedy circuit and by 2016 got to the finals of the Welsh Unsigned Stand-up Awards (WUSA). Since then he has become a regular headliner on the South Wales scene providing an entertaining musical performance of inoffensive daftness. @jeffjapers

Joseph Emslie

Since starting gigging in 2016, Joseph has been the number one go to gluten free comic on the circuit. His easy conversational manner, anecdotal, and sometimes self-deprecating, style of comedy has helped him secure him some early critical acclaim by taking the runner up place in the Leicester Mercury Comedian of the Year 2021, twinning this with his other final successes he really is "definitely a name to keep tabs on." (Bruce Dessau, Beyond The Joke). Having kept music and comedy separate for many years it only took a global pandemic for Joseph to actually combine the two and the rest, they say, is history*. *But more honestly, they probably say: "Oh that was alright, wasn't it?! @josephemslie

Kayleigh Jones

Kayleigh is a musical theatre trained actress and yoga teacher that has enjoyed an extremely average career in both professions. After attending a comedy writing course in 2017, she began trying out stand-up comedy at open mic nights. She did this about 4 times. In 2018, after receiving a ridiculous casting call, she picked up the ukulele she bought 2 years previous, and wrote a satirical comedy song that she shared online. This video got a really positive reaction, so she wrote more. Kayleigh has been sharing her satirical songs online ever since and has had the pleasure of performing a few of her songs at live events. Alongside musical comedy, Kayleigh enjoys writing comedy scripts and has had 2 of her pilots longlisted by the BBC. Kayleigh has realised that musical comedy is something she really enjoys, isn't bad at, and is going to pursue further @kayleighalwill

Kit Sullivan

Kit Sullivan is a muppet; not his words but those of audiences around the country. Based in Romford, this cheeky and absurd comedian matches physical and musical storytelling with an eagerness to confuse himself, making him one of the most exciting and unique acts on the scene, as well as a total sandwich. As seen in BBC Two's Mind Of Herbert Clunkerdunk. "this act came out of nowhere." - Beyond the Joke "There would be no Spencer Jones without Kit Sullivan." - Spencer Jones. @kitsullivan

Nikola McMurtrie

Nikola McMurtrie is an award-winning Scottish comedian and performer. She writes irreverent, comedy folk songs with a hint of the absurd. Starting out with online comedy sketches and music, she went on to win the 2020 Funny Women Awards for Best Short Film and other accolades, including the British Comedy Guide video contest and Fulwell 73 50/50 competition. She has since taken her material to the live stage where she's received some laughs and at least 4 claps. Most of which were from hands.

Orlando Gibbs

Orlando has reached the final of the 2021 Musical Comedy Awards and the semi-final of the 2Northdown New Act Competition 2021. He has written for BBC Radio 4's Newsjack and NewsRevue (Canal Café / Edinburgh), and was shortlisted for the 2019 First Laugh Comedy Competition. ('hits the laughs in all the right places' -The Reviews Hub). He's very excited to have reached the final for the second time! @orlandogibbs95

Simon David

Simon is a camp, gorgeous, homosexual fashionista with catchy songs about everything from capitalism to racism to gay tories to gay sex. His 2020 VAULT Festival debut, Over My Dad's Body was described by The Guardian as, "an affecting hour, fully aware of the 'dead dad' fringe show cliché, balancing poignancy with soul-searching humour". Simon's musical comedy hour, White Gay won the Otherplace/Balkan Brighton Fringe Award 2021 and is appearing at the Brighton and Edinburgh Fringe this summer. Simon hosts monthly mixed bill cabarets at The Glory in East London and often plays at showtune piano bar, Overtures. Over lockdown, his online shows (described by The Guardian as 'a jolly hour of frivolity') raised over £1K for transgender charity 'Gendered Intelligence' and transfem fund 'FiveforFive' @simongayvid

The Sugarcoated Sisters

The Sugarcoated Sisters are real-life siblings from Hertfordshire. When they got dumped by their non-boyfriends, they started posting songs about their heartbreak on TikTok (thinking no one would see it) and have since gained over 235K followers and 26M views. This year, they are jumping into the live comedy scene - armed with a guitar and double bass - to enact musical revenge on anyone who's ever wronged them. Tabby is a Diabetic Diva and Chloe is a Bipolar B*tch and together, they are sugary sweet! They are super excited for their third ever live gig: The MCA final. @sugarcoatedsis

Talal Karkouti

British-Syrian Talal Karkouti brings his raucous and riff-tastic musical comedy to the stage with the fury and passion of a man misunderstood by anyone but his guitar... and his cat! Expect lyrical feats of wonder about all things dating, race and hummus. @Talalaban

The MCA organisers conclude: "We are thrilled about this year's diverse line-up with a group of very, very talented acts. To have the incredible Isy Suttie headline will be an extra special treat for our audience!"