In conjunction with the Laughterhouse Comedy venue and its partners the Liverpool Comedy Festival, we are reviving the Liverpool ECHO Stand Up Of The Year contest.
There are countless natural comedians in this city and we are looking forward to unearthing a star – or stars – of the future.
* With a deadline of Friday July 29, we are asking funny men and women (aged 16 and over) to enter our competition by emailing a one minute video of themselves doing stand up to competition@laughterhousecomedy.com
* The video must be suitable for viewing on the Liverpool ECHO website – no racist, sexual, homophobic or mysogynistic material and no bad language.
* The compeition is open to complete amateurs who have never appeared on stage before and fellow amateurs with limited experience. Entrants must not be considered to be professional comedians, must not earn a sole living from stand-up comedy and must have only been performing stand-up at venues (if at all) for less than two years before today.
* Competition judges will include comedians Neil Fitzmaurice and Chris Cairns and representatives of Laughterhouse Comedy and the Liverpool ECHO.
* The successful entrants will be invited to perform between five and seven minutes of material in one of the heats at Laughterhouse Comedy at The Slaughter House on Fenwick Street.They will take place on Thursday August 25, Thursday September 1, Thursday September 8 and Thursday September 15.
* The final will be staged at Laughterhouse Comedy on Thursday September 22 – and the winner will then appear at the Laughterhouse’s star-studded show at the Philharmonic Hall two days later, on Saturday September 24, in front of 1600 people.
It’s a prize that money can’t buy AND you will be given £500!
Laughterhouse resident MC & competition judge Neil Fitzmaurice adds: “The ECHO readers who want to enter will be nervous, but this city is full of incredibly funny people and I know there are stacks and stacks of potentially funny comedians who are just waiting to make that jump.
“John Bishop was working for a pharmaceutical company when he started out as a comedian, while I was working in a gym. At the end of the day, you’re not going to get hurt – you’re just testing your talent. And at the very least you will be able to say ‘I had a go’.
“Also, what is really brilliant about entering this competition is that you can film your minute of stand up in the safety and privacy of your own home. So you can be totally relaxed and stop and re-do it whenever you want, until you have a polished one minute of material.
“If you get selected to take part in one of the heats, that’s when the real journey begins. And I’m really looking forward to possibly discovering someone from this city who could literally change their lives by winning this competition.”
