At this years Ram Comedy Festival, we’re going to be running 2 comedy competitions, with heats leading up to the festival, ending in the final during the festival itself.

Heats

There will be 4 x heats hold across different venues in the surrounding areas, each run by different promoters all of which will be free entry.

  • The Royal Standard (Derby) – ZFS Comedy – Tue 1st April
  • The Barge Inn (Long Eaton) – Den of Laughs – Thu 3rd April
  • The Peacock Lounge (Allestree) – George Coppen – Thu 10th April
  • Cross Keys (Belper) – Rockcentral Promotions – Sun 27th April

Each heat will feature acts competing for both competitions, with 9 comics taking part overall in each heat.

  • 4 x new act of the year acts each with strict 5 mins, with 1 x winner going to the final
  • 5 x comedian of the year acts each with strict 7 mins, with 1 x winner going to the final

The winners will be decided via impartial judging by the promoter and other selected impartial judges on the night.

The line ups are as follows:

Heat #1 – The Royal Standard – Tue 1st April

Comedian of the Year

Dennis Irwin
Michael McKenzie
Harry Jenkins (Winner)
Jimmy Shirley
Tharun Chelley
Katie Johnson

New Act of the Year

Alex Watt
Phil Irving (Winner)
Ellie-May Gunn
Jack Wood
Wendy King

Heat #2 – The Barge Inn – Thu 3rd April

Comedian of the Year

Chloe Reynolds (Winner)
Nik Hill
LongHu
Henning Nilsen
Rahul Somia
Rachel Page

New Act of the Year

Emily McDermott (Winner)
Fraser Ball
Molly Robinson
Craig Shaw
Charlie Bonel

Heat #3 – The Peacock Lounge – Thu 10th Apr

Comedian of the Year

Marty Riley
Julie Metcalfe
Hazel Donovan
Jamie Douglas
Kie Carson
James Murray

New Act of the Year

Jack King
Katie Jarman
Stuart Vincent Moore
Laurie Brewster
Ravi Saini

Heat #4 – The Cross Key – Sun 27th Apr

Comedian of the Year

Ben Turner
Cordelia Graham
Eppie Brilliant
Syed Ahmad Raza
Jonny Brook
Stephen Catling

New Act of the Year

Slightly Psychic Cynthia
Benjamin Pugh
Debra Holt
Stevie Cairns
James Abernethy

The Final

The final will take place on Wed 4th June at the Courtyard in Derby, with the new act competition running from 19:45-20:45, and the comedian of the year competition running from 21:00-22:00, with the winners of each competition announced shortly afterwards. Each act will get 10 minutes each for the final.

The line ups… (so far)

Comedian of the Year

Winner of Heat #1 – Harry Jenkins
Winner of Heat #2 – Chloe Reynolds
Winner of Heat #3 – ???
Winner of Heat #4 – ???

New Act of the Year

Winner of Heat #1 – Phil Irving
Winner of Heat #2 – Emily McDermott
Winner of Heat #3 – ???
Winner of Heat #4 – ???

The final will be judged by a panel of 3:

  • Peter Fox (Notts Comedy Review)
  • Anthony Williams (Rockcentral Promotions)
  • Helen Stead (NCF Comedy)

Winners will get

  • Small cash prize of £75 each (hopefully future years we can increase this prize, but with us not really being a money spinning festival we’re playing it safe this year)
  • 10 Minute Spot at the Ram Festival Closing Gala in the Grand Regency Ballroom @ The Old Bell on Sun 8th June (Middle Supporting Slots for Paul Tonkinson & Britains Got Talent Winner Lost Voice Guy)
  • A Trophy (that will be given to you during the closing gala, in the awards ceremony)

Accessibility of our Competition

We want to ensure our competition is accessible to anyone, so we have the final & some the heats at accessible venues. Please let us know if you have mobility requirements that would mean we need to place you at an appropriate venue when you apply!

We also have listed in our application form which of our heats are accessible and which aren’t (the final and support slots for the winners are at fully accessible venues, so nobody misses out!).

How to Apply

Applications are now open to enter our competition and are now closed, Try again next year!

Further T&C’s

  • The reward for winning the competition will be £75, which will be paid to you via cash.
  • Festival organizers reserve the right to disqualify any participant from the competition where we believe any coercion of judges or any behaviour we deem not aligned to the spirit of the competition
  • We will do everything we can to honour the agreed prizes (such as the support slots), however in the event that these cannot be honoured (due to event cancellations or other possible eventualities outside the reasonable realms of control). We cannot in good faith wholly guarantee the prizes agreed, outside of the cash prize stated & trophy, however will in the very slim possibility this happens we will seek to support the winners in getting like for like opportunities elsewhere.
  • All the nights will be free entry with donations. For the heats it’s at the promoters discretion on whether this money is used to cover their costs or whether a split will be given. The final will be free entry, with all money raised going to cover prize money & trophy costs. (Again, we’re not a massive money spinning festival!)
  • Festival organizers reserve the right where required to alter the terms & rules of the competition as necessary to ensure it’s successful (however will try not if we don’t need to!)