The winner of Bath New Act 2023 is Mark Flynn, with second place awarded to Sam Picone, while Chris Yates was placed third. The judges also awarded honourable mentions to Kev Mud & Emma Coyne.
The other finalists who qualified for this year’s Grand Final at Bath’s Forum Theatre were Tim Biglowe, Dane Buckley, José Fortuna, Sharon Jackson, Mara Mainka, Anita Surat & Josh Watmore.
As the winner, Mark Flynn was presented with the coveted Bath Comedy New Act Of The Year Award, a cheque for £250 and will also receive guaranteed paid gigs throughout the following year. All the finalists also received a goody bag with beer from Bath Ales.
Nick Steel, Bath Comedy Festival Director said, “The standard in the twelve Bath New Act Heats this year was very high, which made tonight’s Grand Final very strongly contended and created a challenge for the judges, but the top three tonight were all outstanding. We have definitely witnessed some future stars in the making this evening.”
Mark Flynn, who is based in East London, said "I'm honestly stunned to win against such talented opposition, people I look up to, it's been a fantastic event at a brilliant venue.”
The Grand Final was MCd by Geoff Whiting and last year’s winner, Adam Flood, also performed while the judges deliberated over their choice.
This year’s judges were Alan Nixon (the first controller of comedy and entertainment at Channel 5, previously Comedy producer at BBC & LWT, and recently Executive Producer at Sky), Mark Robson (a highly experienced Executive Producer, Development Exec and Series Producer of Formats, Scripted and Children's TV), Angie Belcher (award winning facilitator, coach and stand-up comedian and founder of Aftermirth: The Daytime Comedy Club), Trish Caller (Managing Director of Genius PR and Events -Boutique PR and Comedy/Entertainment Promotion in the South West) and Bath Comedy Festival Director Nick Steel.
Almost 200 acts applied to take part in this year’s competition, with 120 given the chance to perform in one of twelve heats.
Previous Bath New Act finalists include: Joe Lycett, Rob Beckett, Matt Richardson, Larry Dean, Harriet Kemsley, Garrett Millerick, Adam Flood, Bennet Kavanagh, David Eagle, Cally Beaton, Pete Latham, Thanyia Moore, Sunjai Arif, Pav Rao, Tamar Broadbent, Bethan Roberts, Archie Maddocks, Paul Revill, Mickey Sharma, Lindsay Sharman and James Alderson.
