And calls for solutions to the class disparity in comedy

Jack Rooke won the Bafta craft award for comedy writing last night, using his acceptance speech to call for action to make the industry more open to working-class voices.

It is the second year running he has won the award for his Channel 4 show Big Boys, inspired by the suicide of his university friend.

Speaking at the ceremony hosted by Maisie Adam, he said: ‘Thank you so much. I wasn't expecting this at all, I just feel very overwhelmed.’

‘Last time I read an iPhone Notes thing, like a cancelled celebrity.

‘In this moment what I actually really want to say is that Big Boys’ life began in the fringe theatre / live comedy world. It began at places like Soho Theatre and the Roundhouse, directed by brilliant people like Gabriel Bissett-Smith and Charlotte Bennett. 

‘It came from the live stage, and Edinburgh this year has had like a 93 per cent funding cut to try and help new artists go to the Fringe, and we are currently in a place where we've got like, 40 per cent of state schools stopping doing drama and music. 

‘The class disparity in this industry is wild and it’s mad, and we’ve got to try and come up with some robust solutions for it in a real big way and quite urgently.’

The 93 per cent refers to the cuts to the Keep It Fringe funding, which the UK government will no longer support after two years It means 12 grants of £2,500 were offered to show heading to the festival this year, compared with 180 equal-sized grants perviously.

Turning to his own work, he told the London audience ‘Writing Big Boys really truly the honour of my life and I wrote it about one friend in particular who should be here and should be an amazing writer and he has given me jet fuel in my belly for 10 years.

‘I really miss writing about him but I’m also quite relieved to be done I'm old now I'm not at uni so this is to my friend Ollie thank you so much.’

Also  nominated for the comedy writing award were Daisy May Cooper and Selin Hizli for Am I Being Unreasonable?; Steve Coogan, Rob Gibbons and Neil Gibbons for How Are You? It's Alan (Partridge); and Kat Sadler for Such Brave Girls.

Philippa Mumford picked up the production design trophy for Juice – prompting star Mawaan Rizwan to say: ’It’s unheard-of that a comedy wins this category, because we're so low budget. Philippa worked her arse off.’

Janice Okoh won the emerging talent: fiction award for Just ​Act Normal – which also started life as a stage play.

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Published: 27 Apr 2026