The BBC New Comedy Awards Final will air on BBC iPlayer and BBC One on Wednesday 18th November, and will be hosted by award-winning comic Guz Khan. The final of the comedy competition takes place in Birmingham Town Hall, following the heats taking place in Coventry. 

Already announced, and taking on the role of Head Judge, is multi-award-winning comedian, actor and writer Amy Gledhill. Joining her as series judges are star of BBC hit comedy, Ghosts, Kiell Smith-Bynoe and previous BBC NCA winner, Dan Tiernan (pictured with Khan).  

For 30-years, the BBC New Comedy Awards have launched the careers of many of the UK’s best-loved comedians. Past entrants include Romesh Ranganathan, Lee Mack, Catherine Bohart, John Bishop, Sunil Patel, Sarah Millican, Peter Kay, Nina Conti, Dee Allum, Sindhu Vee, Jason Manford, Joe Lycett, Tom Allen, Rhod Gilbert, Alan Carr, Josie Long and Dan Tiernan to name a few. 

This year’s winner will receive a paid commission to write and perform their own 30-minute audio pilot under the mentorship of a BBC Comedy Commissioner, plus a trophy and £1,000 cash. 

Guz Khan offers thia advice to aspiring comics: "Don’t hang around with too many comedians, and don’t take too much notice of their opinions! When I first started out, I didn’t really know what a joke was in the traditional stand-up sense. The idea of writing a set and having a set list all seemed really daunting, so I tried to do things on my own terms. For me, the most important part of stand-up comedy is making people laugh.

However you get there that’s what you’ve got to do. I didn’t have any mates in the industry, and I didn’t know anybody. It wasn’t my world. Quite early on, people would ask if they could give me advice or pitch ideas to me, and I’d be thinking, “Bro, I don’t even know what you’re saying, man!” As a result, I found my own way with stand-up."

The BBC New Comedy Awards Final will take place at 22:40 on BBC One and BBC iPlayer.