Episode 3

The BBC New Comedy Awards has been scouring every corner of the country to find the freshest, funniest new stand-ups around. Five more hopefuls step into the spotlight hoping to win a place in this year's grand final, where one of them will be crowned the BBC New Comedian of 2026.

Mancunian comedian and podcast host Josh Jones hosts the night. Judging is star of Taskmaster and Ghosts Kiell Smith-Bynoe, the 2022 BBC New Comedian Dan Tiernan, and our head judge, the multi-award winning comedian, actor and writer Amy Gledhill.

Dom McGovern, Adam Jones, Naph, Greg Curzon and Jen Nolan each have just five minutes to win over the audience and the three judges, with one place in the final at stake.

The judges are looking for more than big laughs. They want originality, quality, delivery and good audience reactions, all of which marks out a real star of the future. Once the last set is done, they decide who goes through to the grand final in November.

This is one of six heats at the BBC's own New Comedy Club at Coventry's FarGo Village, where a local crowd is ready to cheer on the next generation of comics.

Since 1995, the awards have helped launch some of Britain's best-loved comedians, including Peter Kay, Joe Lycett, Lee Mack, Julian Barratt, Josie Long, Angela Barnes, Deirdre O'Kane, Romesh Ranganathan, Alan Carr, Russell Howard, Lee Ridley, Tom Allen, Lauren Pattison and Sarah Millican. For many of them, it started with a few nervous minutes on this stage.

The awards champion a wide range of new talent from every corner of the UK, from sharp observation to surreal storytelling, and provides a trainee scheme for new talent behind the cameras, nurturing the programme makers of tomorrow as well as the performers.