Top up-and-coming acts showcased in London's Bloomsbury Theatre

Tickets have gone on sale for this year’s Chortle Student Comedy Award final.

Postponed from last year and moved from its usual Edinburgh Fringe home, the event will now take place at the Bloomsbury Theatre in London on September 20.

It will be again be hosted by the brilliant Mark Watson, and be live-streamed online for those who cannot make it in person.

Eleven of the top up-and-coming comedians were chosen following a series of live heats in universities around the UK pre-lockdown. Those chosen as semi-finalists were the judged by panels of comedy bookers and agents, based on viewing videos of their full sets from the heats.

Those who made the final are.

• Omar Badawy, 23, originally from Cambridge and now studying a masters in digital media at London Metropolitan University 
• Andy Bucks, 28,  studying for a doctorate in astrophysics at Cambridge University
• Charlotte Cropper, 21, originally from Mansfield, studying performance and media at the University of Salford 
• Hamish Duff, 21, originally from Stirling, studying history at St Andrews
• Isaac Kean, 26, originally from Colchester, studying for a PhD in history and philosophy of science at Cambridge University
• Joe-Kent Walters, 23, from Huddersfield, studying theatre and performance at Leeds
• Grace Sanders, 21, from Hull, studying psychology at the university of York
• Scott Redmond, 23, originally from Hawick and now studying medicine at the University of Dundee
• George Tothill, 22, from Southend, now studying law at University College London
• Sharon Wanjohi, 23, from Dagenham, studying English at the University of Southampton
• Sam Williams, 24, from Maidenhead, studying drama and film at the University of Sussex

They will be hoping to follow in the footsteps of previous finalists over the past 17 years such as Joe Lycett, Simon Bird, Phil Wang, Iain Stirling, Ed Gamble, Chris Ramsey Tom Rosenthal, Jamali Maddix and Laura Lexx.

Tickets are priced £15 or £10 for concessions or streaming – provided by comedy specialists NextUp – and are available from the Bloomsbury Theatre website.

Meanwhile, some of the finalists will be opening the Comedy Arena at the Latitude Festival in Suffolk on Friday. The showcase, at midday, kicks off the stand-up at the event, which is being run as government Covid trial. The expected 40,000 crowd will have to provide evidence of double vaccination, immunity or a negative test before entry.

Other comedians performing over the weekend include Bill Bailey, Katherine Ryan, Simon Amstell and Jo Brand,

Published: 21 Jul 2021