Comedian Blank Peng won the Rising Star New Act 2022 competition at the weekend.

The final, which took place on Saturday (4th June) at The Bill Murray venue in London, saw the eleven acts that were selected from the eleven heats competing for the title.

Peng, whose act was described as "fresh and fiery political comedy", won a prize package including £300, a spot at Angel Comedy and a trophy. On accepting the prize, Peng joked: "I've never seen so much money!".

Meanwhile Marty Gleeson, who performs with a drum, claimed the Pete Nash Award For Comic Originality.

The other finalists were Alfie Packham, Su Mi, Charlotte Dougan, Niamh Curran, Wes Defoe, Jake Cornford, Saad Abdi, Nikola McMurtrie and Khalid Raheem.

The Rising Star New Act award launched in 2019, with Hannah Fairweather and Julia Masli selected as winners, however the planned 2020 final had to be cancelled due to coronavirus.

The organisers say: "It's great to be back after 2 years, giving new acts a chance to shine, get visibility and confidence for the next steps in their comedy careers. It's fair to say that every act brought a hilarious and polished winning set to the final, as the standard of the writing and performance was consistently high. Blank pulled ahead as her political material was so explosively topical - firing on all angles on the gendered and political quirks of her mother country."

The organisers add: "A big thanks to Jamie D'Souza for hosting, and The Bill Murray for giving us the perfect venue to work with, particular shout out to their showrunner, Kate, who was top notch."