The shortlists for the Midlands Comedy Awards 2017 have been announced.

Rob Kemp leads the nominees, with an impressive six nods across the ten categories. Kemp, who created The Elvis Dead show, is up for Best Act, Best MC, Breakthrough Act, Alternative Act and Best Live Show and also picked up a nomination for the Anarchy open mic show he runs in Willenhall.

However, as the organisers point out, the Black Country comedian faces tough competition in all categories. "For Best Act, he'll be facing off against household names like Joe Lycett, Tom Binns, Luisa Omielan, as well as former English Comedian of the Year Josh Pugh and rising star Scott Bennett."

The full list of nominations are below.

This year, the finalists for the Midlands Comedy Awards were chosen by a secret ballot of both comedy promoters and comedy performers. In the past, only promoters were asked to nominate for the shortlists, but based on feedback from the Midlands comedy community, the decision was taken to widen the range of opinions being taken to decide which names will be put to the public vote.

Voting to decide the awards winners will begin in the middle of November, with the resultant winners announced at a ceremony in Leicester on Monday 4th December 2017.

Best Act

Scott Bennett
Tom Binns
Ben Briggs
Masai Graham
Rob Kemp
Joe Lycett
Luisa Omielan
Josh Pugh
Hannah Silvester

Best MC

Scott Bennett
Gareth Berliner
Barry Dodds
Stevie Gray
Alex Hylton
Rob Kemp
Jason Neale
Dan Nightingale
Andy Robinson

Breakthrough Act

Harv Hawkins
Sarah Johnson
Rob Kemp
Jack Kirwan
Andrew McBurney
Thomas Rackham
Pete Teckman
Stu Woodings

Best New Act

Adam Beardsmore
Jem Braithwaite
Adam Elmi
Count Evil
Liam Jeavons
Gina Overton
Jack Topher
Sham Zaman

Alternative Act

Count Evil
Ian Hall
Rob Kemp
Jack Kirwan
Andrew McBurney
Daniel Nicholas
Roger Swift

Best Live Show

Jo D'Arcy
Rob Kemp
Laura Monmoth
Phil Pagett
Josh Pugh

Online Comedy

Craig Deeley
Masai Graham
Moses Ali Khan
Jack Kirwan
Phil Pagett

Best Comedy Club

Funhouse Comedy
Glee Club
Just The Tonic
Laff Attack
NCF Comedy

Best Small Club

Blue Giraffe
Can Comedy
Cherry Bomb
Club Smashing
FAF Comedy
Fat Penguin
Funhouse Comedy
Proper Funny

Best Open Mic Show

Anarchy (Black Country)
Comedy And Cocktails (Leicester)
Holly Bush (Black Country)
Jam Comedy (Northampton)
Juice Comedy (Staffordshire)
NCF £1 Night (Nottingham)
Roadhouse Comedy (Birmingham)

For further details on the awards visit midlandscomedy.org

See also: Rob Kemp interview