Over 300 acts compete for the title of New Comedian of the Year in Leicester Square Theatre‘s hunt for the best new acts in the country.

Now in it’s 12th year previous winners and finalists include Rob Beckett, Rachel Parris, Dane Baptise, Sofie Hagen, Tim Renkow, Bilal Zafar, Tez Ilyas and loads more…

Heats take place throughout the Autumn season at the Museum of Comedy, culminating in the final in the Main House at Leicester Square Theatre in December.

Entry Requirements
The competition is open to any non-professional act who's been performing for 5 years or less and entries from character acts, musical acts and sketch groups are welcome. The only restriction is that all contestants must stick to 5 minutes of material or risk disqualification.

THE 2021 COMPETITION IS NOW COMPLETELY FULL AND ENTRIES ARE CLOSED

Dates for the 2021 competition are:

HEATS - Museum of Comedy BOOK
September:
18: 5pm & 7.30pm
19: 5pm & 7.30pm
24: 6.45pm & 9pm
25: 5pm & 7.30pm

October:
2: 5pm & 7.30pm
3: 5pm & 7.30pm
8: 7pm
9: 5pm & 7.30pm
10: 5pm & 7.30pm
16: 5pm & 7.30pm
17: 5pm & 7.30pm
21: 8.15pm
22: 8.15pm
24: 5pm & 7.30pm

QUARTER FINALS - Museum of Comedy BOOK
November:
5: 7pm
6: 5pm & 7.30pm
7: 5pm & 7.30pm
12: 7pm
13: 5pm & 7.30pm
14: 5pm & 7.30pm

SEMI FINALS - Museum of Comedy BOOK
November:
25: 7pm
26 7pm
28: 5pm & 7.30pm

FINAL - Leicester Square Theatre BOOK
13 December 7pm

PAST WINNERS

2019
Winner: David Eagle
Runner Up: Josh Baulf
Joint 3rd: Lily Phillips & Luke Craig

2018
Winner: Sam Lake
Runner Up: Darran Griffiths
3rd place: Calum Stewart & Yumna Mohamed

2017
Winner: Mo Omar
Runner Up: Ali Woods
3rd place: Jack Gleadow

2016
Winner: Joby Mageean
Runner Up: Lewis Dunne aka Stanley Brooks
3rd place: Micky Overman

2015
Winner: ZakSplijt aka LJ Da Funk
Runner Up: Bilal Zafar
3rd place: Yuriko Kotani

2014
Winner: Joshua Ross
Runner Up: Don Tran
3rd place: Evelyn Mok

2013
Winner: Tim Renkow
Runner Up: Garrett Millerick
Joint 3rd: Alasdair Beckett-King & Amy Gledhill

2012
Winner: Funmbi Omotayo
Runner Up: Phil O'Shea
3rd place: Sofie Hagen

2011
Winner: Matt Rees
Runner Up: Richard Todd
3rd place: Adam Hess

2010
Winner: Tim Shishodia
Runner Up: Mark Stephenson
3rd place: Ian Smith

2009
Winner: Rob Beckett
Runner Up: Jim Campbell
3rd place: Tania Edwards & Sally Tatum

Other finalists include... Rachel Parris, Dane Baptiste, Tez Ilyas, Jess Fostekew, Olga Koch, Huge Davies, Nigel Ng, Janine Harouni, Joe Jacobs, George Lewis, Tom Ward, Bobby Mair, Harriet Kemsley, Sunil Patel, Jenny Collier, Lauren Pattison & many more...