BCG Pro Talent Awards: Writing

The BCG Pro Talent Award for Writing runs from May to July each year.

What are we looking for?

We are asking you to submit two really funny sketches.

Please pick two themes from the following five options and title each sketch with the theme chosen.

• Family
• Work
• School
• Monsters
• England during the Anarchy, 1138-1153

What can I win?

The winner, as selected by the judges, will receive £250, and two runners-up will receive £50 each.

Our judges may also look out for entries worthy of feedback or sharing with other industry partners.

How do I enter?

We are not setting a word limit for submissions, but a sketch that runs for more than two A4 pages is likely to be too long.

Indeed, length will not impress us (tee hee).

A very funny short sketch - three jokes, a great punchline, then out - or even an inventive and funny quickie (again: tee hee) are much more likely to tickle our pickle (oh God) than an entry that goes on and on and on and on. And on.

We're not bothered by tone either, and the sketches can be written for any medium. A sketch that could feature in a Radio 4 series will be judged in exactly the same way as one that would fit late night Channel 4.

Just make it funny! And funny from the off. We need to see a joke in the first one or two lines.

Remember: good sketches - and good jokes - tend to have a single key comic idea at their heart.

The themes are designed to challenge you. We'd like you to think beyond the obvious, and surprise us with material that is inventive and hilarious.

There are lots of resources on BCG Pro to help you, and we look forward to reading your work.

You might find our formatting and sketch-writing tutorials a helpful starting point.

Good luck!

Note

Each BCG Pro subscriber may submit one entry to the contest, either by themselves as an individual or on behalf of a writing partnership/team. An entry should consist of two sketches based on the themes set out at the top of the page. When you have finished writing, please put the two parts of your entry into a single Word or PDF file (i.e. both sketches in the same document, one following the other, each titled with the theme) and upload that document through the form below.

Please do not include your name or any other details on the document you upload. We will be judging entries blind to ensure the fairest process possible. Our system will track entrants so we can identify winners at the end of the process.

Full terms and conditions can be read at the bottom of this page.

The deadline to enter is 23:59 on Thursday 31st July 2025.

Any questions? Do ask us.

Rules

This competition is open for entries from 9th May 2025 until 23:59 on Thursday 31st July 2025. Do not leave it until the day of deadline to submit your entry as you will have no time for troubleshooting. Late submissions will not be accepted under any circumstances.

Each BCG Pro subscriber can submit one entry into the competition for consideration. You may use your entry to submit on behalf of a team/collective.

All entries must be the original work of the entrant, and must not infringe the rights of any other party.

Submissions deviating from the stipulated criteria will be considered null and void.

Entries including identifying details such as but not limited to name, email address or phone number within the script file may be disqualified.

Scripts may be submitted as Adobe PDF (.pdf) or Microsoft Word (.doc, .docx) formats only.

No alternative prize will be offered.

Whilst you may enter this competition if you are under 18 years old or living outside the UK, please be aware the cash prizes are offered in Pound Sterling only, with payment only offered by BACS.

Prize monies will be paid to the owner of the BCG Pro account that submitted the winning entries. In the case of team-written submissions, it will be the responsibility of the account holder to distribute the prize money between other parties. Ensure all members of the team have agreed to the prize plan before entering.

Entrants agree to take part in publicity at British Comedy Guide's discretion should they be picked as a winner.