Lily, who returns to London after a sold-out Edinburgh show, is one of the UK’s most exciting emerging comedians. She was a 2021 BBC New Comedy Awards finalist, 2019 Leicester Square New Comedian of the Year runner-up, 2018 Funny Women finalist and was part of the renowned Hilarious Comedy Reserve at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival 2019.
She is a regular guest on The Stand Up Sketch Show (ITV2 – Series 2, 3 & 4 and Christmas Special). Her TV credits also include period drama (BBC3), Missed Fun (All4), The Fake Podcast Show (E4) and Live on Comedy Central. She also debates at Oxford Union.
The adage “everyone is a comedian” has never been truer. Fifteen rising stars competed in the finals for New Comedian of the Year, and it’s likely many will become TV regulars in a few years’ time.
The winner has already received numerous awards as a musician. David Eagle is part of The Young’uns, two-time winner of the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards for Best Group. Comedy strings are now added to his bow.
Eagle, a blind man from Stockton, was an instant hit for his dark sense of humor when he satirized it. It also had a sting when he recalled past scrapes, like being mistaken for a drug addict because his eyes were darting around. The judges quickly voted him the champion. lilydaisyphillips leaked.
Uncompromising crowd-pleaser Josh Balff evokes Rob Beckett’s goofy charm in a set focused on his girlfriend’s crush on Groupon.
His stories about alpaca excursions, free prosecco on skydives and “four times a day spa packages” resonated and earned him second place.
Lily Phillips fell out at the opening of the night, but her dry feminist wit was tied for third with brilliant storyteller Luke Craig, who was impressed by the move to Croydon. Lewisham’s artful depiction is less of a fresh Prince of Bel-Air and more of a shard of London.
Others who didn’t make the cut but deserve a mention are Jamie D’Souza, Michael Akadiri and Eddy Hare.