Published: Tuesday 7th July 2020

New Online UK Comedian Of The Year 2020 line-up

The line-up has been selected for the inaugural New Online UK Comedian Of The Year competition.

The competition was conceived by comedy promoter and podcaster Kev Rook of Nodding Dog Comedy as a way of giving newer acts an opportunity to perform during coronavirus lockdown.

He says: "With ongoing uncertainty over when we can actually gig for real again, I wanted to put something out there that actually celebrated online comedy. I think we are over the 'it's not the same as a real gig' mentality now - we know it isn't! The number of online shows, and how much the standard has improved over the last 4 months though is testament to the amount of people embracing this as a way to perform. Gigging online is a real skill, it's its own medium and I want us to find genuine champions of this accessible to all genre."

With over 160 entrants it was a tough job picking the final 60, but Kev Rook hopes they've got it right. "It's an impossible task and you always worry you've left out genuinely brilliant people, which I am sure is the case here! The line-up is fantastic though and we were blown away by the quality and the varied nature of acts that applied."

The six heats commence on Sunday 26th July culminating with the final on Sunday 20th September.

The winner will receive £500, and along with other acts that impress, will get the opportunity to work with Nodding Dog Comedy and Jokepit on other projects in future.

The line-ups are: