New act competition now in its 35th year

The finalists have been announced for this year’s So You Think You’re Funny? comedy competition at the Edinburgh Fringe.

Vying for the title at the Gilded Balloon tomorrow night will be Ben Pollard, Daniel Petrie, Jack Skipper, Joshua Bethania, Justina Seselskaite, Mark Black, Prakash Jirjadhun, Pravanya Pillay and Rohan Sharma.

This is the 35th year of the competition, whose previous winners have included Peter Kay, Lee Mack, Dylan Moran, Phil Kay, Tommy Tiernan, Maisie Adam and Aisling Bea. It comes with a cash prize – although producers declined to say how much that was – as well as a package of paid gigs across the UK and other benefits to help launch a career.

Gilded Balloon artistic director Karen Koren said: ‘We’re thrilled that in its 35th year this competition still means so much in the industry and we love supporting and investing talent of the future.’

Zoe Lyons is hosting the final, and Micky Flanagan will be a guest judge. Tickets are available here.

The competition is open only to the newest acts, and is only open to entrants who have performed fewer than 15 stand-up spots before 1 June 2021.

The final is also being streamed to NextUp subscribers. Subscribe here and use code CHORTLE10 to save £10 on the usual £30 annual pass.

Published: 24 Aug 2022