Chortle Awards

The nominations for this year's Chortle Awards came out today. I wangled admission to last year's ceremony at the Ministry of Sound and it was a largely joyless affair. Groucho Marx refused to join any club that would admit him as a member. I refuse to acknowledge the legitimacy of any VIP area that permits me access. Anyway, the list of nominations are here. Here are my picks.

Best Newcomer

Alex Edelman, Dane Baptiste and Phil Jerrod have all impressed me in the past year and any of them would be a worthy winner.

Breakthrough Act

James Acaster is one of my favourite acts full stop, so I have to go with him here. Nish Kumar had a strong Edinburgh show though and was a big hit with Milton Jones' audience as support for the strange haired punmeister.

Club Comic

Jeff Innocent gets the nod. He possesses complete control in his appearances at Up The Creek, no matter what the type of audience. An honourable mention for Carl Donnelly who excelled in a headline slot at Sunday Special at the same club.

Best Compere

A strong list of nominees but as a frequent visitor to Sunday Special, I'm biased towards Ed Gamble who always enhances the show as MC.

Music and Variety Award

MR SWALLOW MR SWALLOW MR SWALLOW

Character, Improv or Sketch Act

I know very little about any of the nominees other than Marcel Lucont so I'm going to say him for that flimsy reason.

Best Show

I hope to see Kim Noble and Simon Amstell's shows in the near future. For the moment, I've got to plump for Acaster again.

Best Tour

Don't really know the difference between this and "Best Show" but on the basis of the other night, definitely Mark Thomas.

Internet Award

Richard Herring's fanbase will ensure this award goes in his direction, but if there's any justice it'll go to Stuart Goldsmith and his Comedian's Comedian Podcast which is great.

Radio Award

Has to be my latest podcast addiction, Elis James and John Robins on XFM. Always a fun listen.

TV Award

Uncle was the breakout hit of TV comedy last year and would expect that to be acknowledged here.

Award For Innovation

I saw Alex Horne's Monsieur Butterfly in preview and it was ludicrously ambitious, so will give it to him.

Best DVD

Stewart Lee. He called me sir.

Book Award

Am enjoying Francesca Martinez's book at the moment, so her.

So that's my list which isn't exactly fully informed. I've basically ignored Edinburgh 2014 breakout hit Fun and Gamez on the grounds that I didn't see it. Date of the ceremony is TBC.

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