Notts-based Scott Bennett won Best Act again at the Midlands Comedy Awards 2022, his fourth time. With a total of seven trophies, he's now the most decorated act in the awards' history.

In the Best MC category, Tommy Tomski (Nottingham) repeated his success from two years ago. Last year's winner, Jon Pearson (Melton Mowbray), was runner-up.

Best New Act, described by the organisers as "always the most competitive category", was this year won by Birmingham's Chris Yates, closely followed by Dan Lythe from Chesterfield. Brum-based Scotsman Kent Cameron took third place.

The organisers say: "The surprise this year was the emergence of disabled comedian Benny Shakes in the major categories. Predictably, the Best Live Show gong went to Josh Pugh's critically acclaimed Edinburgh show Sausage, Egg, Josh Pugh, Chips and Beans. However, The Blue Badge Bunch, organised by Shakes, proved popular enough at EdFringe to win second place. Benny was also just behind the top three in the Best Act category."

Best Comedy Club went to Birmingham's Glee Club for the fifth time, with the perennially popular Funhouse Comedy runner up. Third place went to newcomer Fat Theo's, a purpose-built club which only opened a few months ago in Redditch.

The awards were a smaller affair this year, due to resourcing issues. They were truncated to six categories, and announced online rather than at a live ceremony. In addition, in a change to previous years, the results were decided by industry vote, rather than a public vote, with only comedians and comedy producers able to take part in the secret ballot.

Awards founder Jay Shareef comments: "It's been nine years since we launched the Midlands Comedy Awards, and a lot has changed. We now have a much more even distribution of recognition across East and West Midlands. And, while we still have a few TV names in the mix every year, it's now very much a recognition of grassroots talents, both on the stage and behind the scenes. There's no denying that Scott Bennett has been a dominant presence over the last five years, and deservedly so. However, we've also seen a lot of new talent coming through the ranks and I'm excited to see what the future holds for the region's comedy scene."

The full results are:

Best Act

Winner: Scott Bennett
2nd: Eric Rushton
3rd: Josh Pugh
4th: Benny Shakes
5th: Tal Davies and Masai Graham

Best MC

Winner: Tommy Tomski
2nd: Jon Pearson
3rd: Dave Longley
4th: Dave Flynn, Jason Neale, Adam Beardsmore, Anthony Williams

Best New Act

Winner: Chris Yates
2nd: Dan Lythe
3rd: Kent Cameron
4th: Josh Reynolds, Lin Smith, Henry Michaels

Best Live Show

Winner: Josh Pugh
2nd: Benny Shakes
3rd: Scott Bennett

Best Comedy Club

Winner: Glee (Birmingham)
2nd: Funhouse Comedy
3rd: Fat Theo's
4th: NCF Canal House
5th: Holly Bush

Best Small Club

Winner: Holly Bush
2nd: RockCentral
3rd: Laffa Cake
4th: Arch Rivals
5th: Egan's Comedy