C4's new National Comedy Awards postponed
- The National Comedy Awards have been postponed a week ahead of its inaugural ceremony
- In aid of Stand Up To Cancer, an awards event was due to take place in Camden next Wednesday
- Channel 4 has also suspended voting, "due to the uncertainty around the omicron covid-19 variant"
The National Comedy Awards have been postponed until 2022.
Voting had been under way since early October for the new awards initiative, which was to take place in London next week and be televised on Channel 4 in aid of Stand Up To Cancer.
Channel 4 said in a statement today: "Due to the uncertainty around the Omicron variant we have decided to postpone this large scale event."
Created by Hungry Bear Media, the new awards body was announced in August 2020 and originally scheduled to take place this Spring, but also had to be put on ice due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Public voting eventually opened in early Autumn ahead of the award ceremony, due to take place at the Roundhouse venue in Camden, north London, on Wednesday next week (15th December), ahead of a broadcast on Friday evening (17th). Voting has now been suspended.
The channel also confirmed: "Votes already cast will still be counted and voting will reopen next year for the remaining period."
The shortlist and all categories for the awards can be viewed here.