Riki Msindo wins Chortle Student Comedy Award 2023
- Riki Msindo, from Bristol University, has won the Chortle Student Comedy Award 2023
- Exeter University student Josh Adkins was picked by the judges as the runner-up
Riki Msindo was named the winner of the Chortle Student Comedy Award 2023 competition at last night's live final.
The 25-year-old - originally from Zimbabwe - is a fifth year medical student at Bristol University. He's active on the Bristol comedy scene, and co-hosts the Oh Captain My Captain podcast with Mark Olver.
He said: "I'm honoured to have won and it was so much fun. I was a fan of comedy first so just being able to watch such a great final was incredible. The best part was performing with so many talented and hilarious people, who I'm sure I will be friends with for life."
The video of his set is available here:
Meanwhile the judges picked 22 year-old Josh Adkins, a third-year theology and religion undergraduate at Exeter University, as the runner-up. His set is here:
The other finalists were Alex Knipe (Durham), Daniel Petrie (Glasgow), Emmerson Young (Liverpool), Hannah Yarwood (Kent), Ivo Pope (Durham), Katie Carrig (Dublin), Michael McKenzie (Nottingham) and Muhsin Yesilada (Bristol). They will now open the comedy tent at Latitude Festival on Friday 21st July.
The final, which was held at the Up The Creek club in London, will be broadcast on Radio 4 Extra at 10:30pm tonight (Thursday 13th July).
Chortle editor Steve Bennett says: "We had a really interesting range of voices and styles in this year's final, making it difficult to chose between the ten young comics who had made it this far. In the end, Riki's warmth and wit won out - but I'm sure all the finalists will go on to have stellar careers in comedy."