Up-and-coming musical comedians are currently competing in the heat stages of the Musical Comedy Awards 2017, with the first quarter final stage due to start on Saturday 25th February.

The competition, now in its 9th year, will be crowning this year's winner at the final on April 10th at the prestigious Lyric theatre in London.

Professor Jack Darcy, Rasputin's Lunchbox, Friz Frizzle, Charlie Partridge, Hassan Dervish, Jason Simmons, Tom Taylor, Wisebowm, ShitStorM, Will Hislop, Vicky Arlidge and Matt Hutson will compete in the first Quarter Final.

Meanwhile Monsieur Bon Bon, Dan Attfield, David Hoare, Rosie Holt, Jeff Japers, LUKA, Jamie D'Souza, Bennet Kavanagh, Katie Pritchard, Two Plus Ones, Dan Max and Hurt & Anderson are lined up for the other Quarter Final.

Previous MCA winners include Abandoman, Jollyboat, Rob Carter, David Elms and Rebecca Humphries.

The final, which will be hosted by the character Tina T'urner Tea Lady, will feature the 10 selected finalists each performing their best 8 minutes of material. The night will also feature a performance from whichever act from the heats is named the Best Newcomer.

The producers say: "The WeGotTickets Musical Comedy Awards is an annual competition to support, promote, expose and celebrate the best emerging musical comedians in the UK. If you are a fan of musical comedy acts such as Tim Minchin, Flight of the Conchords and Bill Bailey, you'll love this show!"

The winner will receive £750, the Audience Favourite £250 and the Best Newcomer £200.

The producers say: "In our biggest show to date we are thrilled to bring the MCA final to the home of Thriller, Shaftesbury Avenue's oldest theatre, the Lyric!"

The final is on 10th April 2017. For tickets, visit wegottickets.com

To find out more about the Musical Comedy Awards visit musicalcomedyawards.com