Tarot win Next Big Thing 2025 award
- Sketch group Tarot have been announced as the inaugural winners of the Next Big Thing award
- The group comprises of on-stage members Adam Drake, Ed Easton and Kath Hughes, with Ben Rowse and Kiri Pritchard-McLean as further offstage members
- "None of us thought we'd win it, and it's slightly sunk our reputation as hip underdogs"
Comedy sketch group Tarot have been announced as winners of the 2025 Next Big Thing award, a major new comedy prize that has been created to name one act every year: the act most deserving of the public's attention, as well as the media's spotlight.
At the start of each year - when media and the arts world typically highlight key new talent - the Next Big Thing award wants to name and support the comedians most deserving of a breakthrough into mass public consciousness.
Tarot are an anarchic and frequently sordid sketch group, comprising Adam Drake, Ed Easton and Kath Hughes, with Ben Rowse and TV regular Kiri Pritchard-McLean as further offstage members. The ensemble came together as a sketch supergroup in 2019, combining members of already critically-acclaimed troupes Gein's Family Giftshop and Goose.
The group were surprised with the news they had won by Pritchard-McLean, as can be seen in the below video:
Talking about the group, The Independent has previously commented "creating brilliant sketch comedy is a true art, and one that Tarot's five members have absolutely nailed", whilst the Guardian has described their performance by saying "the jokes come out of nowhere, are bark-out-loud funny, and the whole hour is startlingly live". Chortle, meanwhile, described them as "laugh-from-the-gut hilarious", also commenting that their live show is "a coarse, raucous blast of ridiculous, mischievous energy, hilarious for its unfettered outrageousness".
Tarot secured the award ahead of a richly talented nominee list, which also included Celya AB, Dan Tiernan, Josh Pugh, Katie Norris, Michael Odewale, Olga Koch, Paddy Young, Rachel Fairburn and Rob Copland.
To find the nominees, British Comedy Guide conducted a UK-wide poll of over 100 professionals from across the live comedy industry, asking for the acts they believed most represented the future of comedy. From that longlist, an expert panel then whittled the names down to ten.
Shortly after being surprised with news that they'd won, Tarot member Kath Hughes commented: "I didn't expect it in a million years. It's very nice to be in a list with so many other people who are very deserving of winning."
Offstage member Kiri Pritchard-McLean added: "It was really nice to be nominated. We think everyone on the shortlist is fantastic. I genuinely think none of us thought we'd win it, and it's slightly sunk our reputation as hip underdogs! We do know sketch is deeply unfashionable, but ultimately, we're our favourite people and we love working together and making each other laugh."
Mark Muldoon, Next Big Thing award founder, says: "I created this award to draw much-needed attention to the next generation of talent - to highlight those most deserving of megastardom. So I couldn't be happier with our first ever Next Big Thing winners. I have to thank the judges for choosing fantastically. For years Tarot have been wowing both audiences and the comedy industry, but sketch acts haven't been able to get on shows like Taskmaster, Live At The Apollo or Mock The Week, so Tarot have felt a little under-valued for some time. We want this award to direct the public towards their new favourite comedy act. For a lot of people, that should be Tarot."
The expert panel that decided the eventual winner, alongside the nominees, were: Ashley Davies (journalist/critic: Times Scotland, Metro, Scotsman), Jay Richardson (freelance arts journalist and comedy critic), Joanne Rutherford (Edinburgh Comedy Awards judge/talent scout since 2010), Mark Muldoon (panel chair; journalist/critic: British Comedy Guide, Chortle), Rachael Healy (comedy critic & culture writer: Guardian, Observer, i paper) and Tim Harding (comedy critic: Telegraph, Chortle).