Birmingham Comedy Festival Breaking Talent Award 2015 finalists
Six of the best emerging comedy acts from across the West Midlands are in the running for the Birmingham Comedy Festival Breaking Talent Award 2015.
The annual competition, which aims to recognise and support 'breaking talent' from the region, is a collaboration between Birmingham Comedy Festival and The Glee Club, and is sponsored by Foster's.
This year's final, which will take place on Friday (2nd October), will mark the start of The Birmingham Comedy Festival 2015. Across the following 10 days, the city will play host to over 50 comedy shows with Frankie Boyle, Chris Ramsey, Henning Wehn, Lee Nelson and Rob Beckett amongst the TV stars heading to the city to perform.
The finalists in this year's Birmingham Breaking Talent competition have been named as Jo D'Arcy, Michael Dryburgh, Jack Kirwan, Josh Pugh, Thomas Rackham and Lucy Thompson.
Introducing the comedians, the festival says: "Born in Nuneaton and now living in Atherstone, Josh Pugh is an office worker who blends one-liners with stories and poems. Thomas Rackham resides in Shard End, Birmingham, and has just made his Edinburgh Fringe debut in a double-bill with the also-nominated Lucy Thompson, who was born in Rugby. They also host a comedy podcast, Toad Radio. A sales rep, Michael Dryburgh lives in Tamworth and has already performed with such established comics as Joe Lycett and Russell Kane, while Jo D'Arcy is a University of Birmingham graduate from Newcastle-under-Lyme, Staffs. Character-based performer Jack Kirwan works in the aerospace industry and lives in Wolverhampton."
The line-up for the final was determined via a nomination panel consisting of comedians James Cook, Jo Enright and Maureen Younger, and comedy booker Alex Jackson.
Talking about the selection process, Birmingham Comedy Festival's Dave Freak says: "There are so many excellent new acts performing across the region at the moment that selecting just six names was a real challenge. But we're confident that those who've been shortlisted all show real promise and look forward to seeing them perform at The Glee Club on the opening night of the festival."
Last year, in what was the inaugural year of the Breaking Talent award, Andrew McBurney was named the winner, with the city's world famous comedian Jasper Carrott in attendance to present the award.
The winner is decided by a panel of comedy professionals, who judge the acts on their "crack gag writing skills, observational chops, deft delivery, and their potential to break out."
Mark Tughan, owner of The Glee Club and one of the 2015 judges, comments: "Bringing a 'breaking talent' show back into the heart of the Birmingham Comedy Festival in 2014 was a huge success. The show had the most electric atmosphere and the level of local talent was staggering. I cannot wait to take my seat on the judging panel."
The competition will be hosted by James Cook and also feature a set from Nish Kumar.
To find out more about the final and the festival in general, plus to book tickets, visit www.bhamcomfest.co.uk
Here follows more details on the finalists, with the biographies sourced via the festival:
Hailing from Nuneaton and now living in Atherstone, by day Josh is a full-time office worker in nearby Coventry. Inspired by Harry Hill and Vic & Bob, he describes his comedy as "alternative but with a foot in reality" as he mixes one-liners, stories and poems.
www.joshpughcomedy.com @JPugh89
Thomas started performing in early 2014 and recently made his Edinburgh Fringe debut with The Toadshow, a two-hander with fellow nominee Lucy Thompson. The duo also have their own podcast, Toad Radio. Born and bred in Birmingham, Thomas currently works for a beer company.
www.thomasrackham.com @thomasrackham
Residing in Tamworth, though born in Fife, Scotland, Mike has only been doing stand-up for just over a year. With a style based "mainly on personal anecdotes," he's already performed alongside such established comedians as Alfie Moore, Joe Lycett, Mike Gunn, Patrick Monahan, Hal Cruttenden and Russell Kane.
Currently living in Leicester, by way of Italy, Rugby-born Lucy cites such acts as French & Saunders, Victoria Wood, Julia Davis and Katherine Ryan as inspirations. Performing since early 2014, she teamed up with fellow nominee Thomas Rackham for The Toadshow at the 2015 Edinburgh Fringe.
In just over two years the former University of Birmingham student from Newcastle-under-Lyme has found herself in the semi-finals and finals of several comedy awards, include Hobgoblin, So You Think You're Funny, and Nando's New Comedian. Of her comedy career to date, she says she's made "largely inappropriate jokes to audiences of varying degrees of tolerance."
A character comedian from Wolverhampton, Jack's many personas include jilted mom Tash, Black Country robot saviour The Kirwanator and small mouthed singer Jack Marrowfatpeamouth. An aerospace engineer by day, Jack also writes and performs with Birmingham Comedy Festival Breaking Talent 2014 winner, Andrew McBurney.
UPDATE: Josh Pugh was named the winner. The judges were impressed by Josh's confidence, originality and unpredictability. Describing his win as "validation", Josh said: "It spurs you on to do the next thing... to do 10-20 minutes, longer shows."
The judging panel for the night consisted of Steve Bennett from Chortle, BBCWM presenter Daz Hale, Glee Club founder Mark Tughan, and Dave Freak, from Birmingham Comedy Festival.
A spokesperson for the festival said: "The judging panel were blown away by the level of professionalism of all the acts making the selection process tough, but Josh's performance was particularly impressive and we look forward to seeing how his career develops over the coming years."
To keep up to date with news from Birmingham visit the festival's Twitter feed and Facebook page
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