The final has taken place of this year's Komedia New Comedy Award in association with Comic Boom comedy club and Arts Journalist Victoria Nangle,

Nine new acts competed for the trophy in the show that took place at Komedia in Brighton.

The winner is Sydney May. Runners up: (in alphabetical order) are Aiden Lonergan and Wes Defoe.

Sydney May receives a bespoke award, a spot at Comic Boom comedy club at Komedia, and a bottle of fizz. 

The award is open to comedians who have been gigging regularly for less than three years and have not won any major comedy competitions. They must have seven minutes of their own stand-up material, plus a clip they can send in with their application. 

The other finalists were: Emma Cohen, Rachel Quinn, Prateek Kohli, Donna Williams, Stanley MacDonald and Eli Hart. 

Previous winners and finalists include Michael Akadiri, Jack Skipper, Sam Williams, Christian Jegard, Elaine Felllows, Matthew Ali, Shalaka Kurup, Daman Bamrah, and 2024 winner Andrew Fox – who continues to rise on the national comedy circuit, as well as working with Komedia Productions within the Brighton community.

Pictured l-r. Runner-up Wes Defoe, Winner Sydney May, Runner-up Aiden Lonergan.