People's Choice and wildcard places allocated

The final finalists in the Chortle Student Comedy Award have been named.

Francesca Best has won the people’s choice, after securing the most votes in an online poll, while James Perham and Isaac Tompkinson – who both took  part in the London heat at the Top Secret Comedy Club – have won the wildcard places.

Best, 28, is a fifth-year medical student at Newcastle University who took part in the heat at Manchester’s’ Fairfield Social Club.

Perham, 21, is a third year history student at York, originally from London: 

And Tompkinson is a 22-year-old medical student at Cambridge, originally from Derby:

They join the Eva Peroni, Kathy Rivett,  Will Finney and Adam Ernest Pickard.

All will be invited to perform at the Latitude Festival in Suffolk on the weekend of July 23 to 26, while the final will take place at the Pleasance  in Edinburgh at 10pm on August 18 – tickets on sale soon.

Published: 7 Apr 2026