Comedy festival reveals its tips for the top

The five acts in the running for this year’s Birmingham Comedy Festival Breaking Talent Award 2026 have been revealed.

They are: Tarik Badwan, Andy Bucks, Naph, Nina Semple and Eden Voss.

Born in Oswestry, Shropshire, Tarik Badwan grew up in Leamington Spa, Warwickshire and made his stand-up debut in 2023   where he attempted to play air guitar, ‘with mixed results’.

Tarik - who performs as character ‘Rik Goodman’ - cites such acts as Jordan Brookes, Nate Kitch and Tony Law as inspiration, saying he is ‘definitely on the alternative spectrum. And just generally on the spectrum."

An astrophysics researcher at the University Of Warwick, in Coventry, Andy Bucks was tempted on stage while a student, and has previously taken part in Chortle’s Student Comey Award and is also one half of comedy duo Low Effort Sketches.

An admirer of James Acaster, Stewart Lee, Marcel Lucont and Kristen Schaal, he said: 'I like to do stupid material about obscure stuff that I care way too much about. One of my friends described my style as "acid nerd", which I think is a pretty good summary."

Birmingham born and raised, Naph lives in Small Heath and is a quality assurance supervisor in the food industry and an arena steward. Her first performance was as part of ashowcase in Birmingham, in June 2024, upon completing a stand-up course. 

A fan of Milton Jones, Richard Blackwood, Frankie Boyle, and’"anyone from Mock The Week’, Naph now hosts her own regular stand up nights, HaHaLal Comedy, and describes her material as "deadpan, dark, one liners, observational." 

Having completed the Jill Edwards Comedy Course, in Brighton, where she studied drama and English literature at university, Nina Semple's first official gig was on her birthday  in April 2023.

Raised in Shirley, Solihull, and the Birmingham suburb of Yardley, the radio production coordinator is currently working on her first solo show, and mentions Miranda Hart, Dora Bryan, Victoria Wood, Joe Lycett, Harriet Kemsley and Bob Mortimer as some of her comedy favourites.

Of her own comedy, Semple says: ‘It’s very silly and maybe confusing at times, because I am always confused. Sometimes there’s songs and PowerPoint slides, and other times there’s just me wearing different hats and smiling. I think it’s always quite happy.’

Hailing from Sutton Coldfield, Eden Voss is now based in Solihull and made his stage debut at Queer As Joke in July 2025 with just 10 minutes notice. – again after completing a comedy course.

‘My style of comedy is mostly stories pulled from personal experiences as a neurodiverse gay man,’ says Voss, who mentions Victoria Wood, French and Saunders and Ronnie Corbett amongst his influences. ‘I love making people laugh and being diagnosed late in life with ADHD and Autism I wanted to help destigmatise neurodiversity by showing another side of it. I think of it as hiding broccoli in the mashed potatoes.’

The Birmingham Comedy Festival Breaking Talent Award has previously been won byJosh Pugh, Celya AB, Hasan Al-Habib  and Tom Towelling, among others.

The awards show takes place on Friday October 2, kicking off the 10-day festival which includes more 100 performances  from such names as Daniel Sloss, Stevie Martin, Olga Koch and Paul Foot.

Published: 19 Aug 2026