Paul Hilleard wins BBC New Comedy Awards 2024
- Stand-up comedian Paul Hilleard has won the BBC New Comedy Award for 2024
Stand-up comedian Paul Hilleard has won the BBC New Comedy Award for 2024.
He triumphed at a final at the Alexandra Theatre in Birmingham, which was broadcast on BBC One and Radio 4 last night (Wednesday 13th November).
Hilleard, who came top of the Wales and West heat, originates from South Wales. In his set he joked about what life is like in the Rhondda Valley and how there are many 'characters' in his hometown of Pontypridd.
He was picked as the winner by judges Babatunde Aléshé, Shaparak Khorsandi and Josh Pugh, who praised the high standard of the finalists.
Asked by host Lucy Beaumont as to how he was feeling, Hilleard deadpanned "It's good, yeah. Sound, innit? Good. Yeah, nice. I dunno."
He receives a paid commission to write and perform his own 30-minute audio pilot under the mentorship of a BBC Comedy Commissioner, plus £1,000. In addition, he will now be invited to perform live on the BBC as part of Comic Relief's Red Nose Day in March 2025.
Other finalists were Jonathan Oldfield, Maia Tassalini, Dane Buckley, Jake Donaldson and Marty Gleeson.
Now in its 29th year, the BBC New Comedy Awards have previously featured the likes of Peter Kay, Sarah Millican, Alan Carr and Lee Mack. Last year's winner, Joe Kent-Walters (who performed a set in this final as the judges deliberated), went on to win Best Newcomer in the Edinburgh Comedy Awards.
The heats and final can be watched via BBC iPlayer
The competition will return in 2025, with the final scheduled to be held in Bradford, the UK's City of Culture for the year.