Winners unveiled at National Comedy Awards for Stand Up To Cancer

2 March 2022

• Sex Education wins clean sweep of scripted categories, taking home four trophies
• The late Sean Lock awarded Outstanding Male Comedy Entertainment Performance and receives tribute from friend Harry Hill
• Billy Connolly awarded Victoria Wood Lifetime Achievement Award
• Sharon Horgan wins Caroline Aherne Outstanding Achievement in Writing Award
• Ricky Gervais scoops Best Stand-Up Show award
• Munya Chawawa wins Best Comedy Breakthrough Performer award
• Chris and Rosie Ramsey take Best Comedy Podcast award

Full exclusive coverage of the ceremony hosted by Tom Allen airs Saturday 5 March at 9pm on Channel 4 and All 4

The winners of the first National Comedy Awards for Stand Up to Cancer have been announced at the inaugural ceremony at Camden Roundhouse in London this evening (Wed 2 Mar). The awards celebrating Britain’s favourite funny people were hosted by Tom Allen, with trophies being handed out by stars of comedy and entertainment including Matt Lucas, Meera Syal, Jamie Demetriou, Jessica Hynes and Joel Dommett.

The National Comedy Awards for Stand Up To Cancer honours both emerging and established comedy talent, with the British public voting on key prizes, alongside two additional special recognition awards voted for by industry peers. The categories honour the genre in all its forms with nods to fan-favourites across recent scripted and unscripted comedy, live shows, and the latest, podcast jokers all vying for votes.

Tom Allen opened the show with a special acknowledgement for “our brother in comedy President Zelenskyy and the courageous people of Ukraine”.

Full exclusive coverage of The National Comedy Awards ceremony hosted by Tom Allen airs Saturday at 9pm on Channel 4 and watch free on All 4.

 

The Winners
(see notes to editors for full list of nominees and winners)

Sex Education scooped a clean sweep of awards in the scripted categories with Emma Mackey winning Outstanding Comedy Actress, Asa Butterfield winning Outstanding Comedy Actor, Ncuti Gatwa winning Outstanding Supporting Role and the series itself triumphing in the Best Scripted Comedy category. On collecting his award, Asa Butterfield jokingly thanked “thousands of Brazilian teenage girls” for voting.

Harry Hill led a special tribute to his friend Sean Lock, who later in the evening was announced as winner in the Outstanding Male Comedy Entertainment Performance for 8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown.

In two special recognition awards, Billy Connolly was awarded the Victoria Wood Lifetime Achievement Award and Sharon Horgan received the Caroline Aherne Outstanding Achievement in Writing Award.

The hotly contested Best Stand-Up Show award was won by Ricky Gervais.

Katherine Ryan received the Outstanding Female Comedy Entertainment Performance for 8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown and on collecting her trophy remarked talked about Jimmy Carr’s roast jokes, remarking “that’s a genre of comedy he happens to be the best at, and I think it’s really important that we all protect that genre, even if people get offended by it.”

Best Comedy Entertainment Show was awarded to Taskmaster, with Greg Davies thanked voters and “the person who is undeniably at the heart of it, is little Alex Horne”.

After a meteoric year on little and large screens, Munya Chawawa was voted Best Breakthrough Performer. He joked “There was a time that I really did believe that my future would be touring small northern towns as a JLS tribute act; thanks to this award, that will not happen for at least another five years.”

Chris and Rosie Ramsey’s podcast Shagged, Married, Annoyed was voted Best Comedy Podcast. On stage, Rosie told her husband Chris “I love you… There’s nobody else I’d rather win this award with”.

 

Supporting Stand Up To Cancer

The National Comedy Awards for Stand Up To Cancer brings the year’s best-loved comedy stars together for a night that celebrates the brilliant work of the comedy world, to help fund life-saving cancer research.

Launched in the UK in 2012, Stand Up To Cancer is a joint national fundraising campaign from Cancer Research UK and Channel 4 that brings the UK together to speed up progress in life-saving cancer research. To date, the campaign has raised more than £93 million, funding 59 clinical trials and projects involving 19,000 cancer patients across the country.

One in two of us will get cancer in our lifetime; help us fight back. To give £30, £20 or £10, text thirty, twenty or ten to 70404 + 1 standard rate message. UK mobiles 16+ only. Get bill payer's permission. Visit channel4.com/terms for more information. 100% of your donation goes to Cancer Research UK in support of the SU2C campaign.

 

ENDS

 

NOTES TO EDITORS

 

For press information, please contact Nick Walker or Kate Conway, Channel 4 Press Office

 

Event pictures available via Getty

National Comedy Awards nominees and winners

Best Scripted Comedy
Sex Education (winner)
Ghosts
This Way Up
Motherland

Outstanding Comedy Actress
Aisling Bea (This Way Up)
Charlotte Ritchie (Ghosts)
Anjana Vasan (We Are Lady Parts)
Emma Mackey (Sex Education) (winner)

Outstanding Comedy Actor
Greg Davies (The Cleaner)
Asa Butterfield (Sex Education) (winner)
Lee Mack (Not Going Out)
Matthew Baynton (Ghosts)

Outstanding Supporting Role
Ncuti Gatwa (Sex Education) (winner)
Diane Morgan (Motherland)
Aimee Lou Wood (Sex Education)
Lolly Adefope (Ghosts) 

Best Comedy Entertainment Show
Taskmaster (winner)
Rob & Romesh Vs:
8 Out Of 10 Cats Does Countdown
Would I Lie To You

Outstanding Female Comedy Ent Performance   
Daisy May Cooper (Taskmaster)
Rosie Jones (Trip Hazard)
Katherine Ryan (8 Out Of 10 Cats Does Countdown) (winner)
Sandi Toksvig (QI)

Outstanding Male Comedy Ent Performance
Mo Gilligan (The Lateish Show)
Sean Lock (8 Out Of 10 Cats Does Countdown) (winner)
Mike Wozniak (Taskmaster)
James Acaster (Hypothetical)

Best Comedy Podcast
Off Menu with James Acaster and Ed Gamble
My Therapist Ghosted Me
Shagged Married Annoyed (winner)
Rob Beckett & Josh Widdecombe’s Parenting Hell

Best Stand-Up Show
Sarah Millican
Ricky Gervais (winner)
Katherine Ryan
Mo Gilligan
Jason Manford

Comedy Breakthrough Performer
Judi Love
Joanne McNally
Munya Chawawa (winner)
Rosie Jones
Rose Matafeo

Caroline Aherne Award for Outstanding Achievement in Comedy Writing
Sharon Horgan

Victoria Wood Lifetime Achievement Award
Billy Connolly

 

About Stand Up To Cancer (UK) 

• Stand Up To Cancer is a joint national fundraising campaign from Cancer Research UK and Channel 4 that brings the UK together to speed up progress in life-saving cancer research
• Launched in the UK in 2012, Stand Up To Cancer funds translational research, turning academic breakthroughs in the labs into new treatments that make a real difference for people with cancer
• Over £93 million has been raised in the UK to date, funding 59 clinical trials and projects involving 19,000 cancer patients across the country.
• Research projects include the development of pioneering technology to detect super low levels of cancerous DNA in blood to improve the way we diagnose ovarian cancer, developing a new immunotherapy drug to boost the power of the immune system against cancer, exploring an entirely new approach to treating bowel cancer, and much more
• Stars such as Naomi Campbell, Noel Gallagher, Tom Hardy, Gillian Anderson, Idris Elba, Andy Murray, James Corden, Martin Freeman, Jamie Oliver, Richard Ayoade, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Peter Crouch, Abbey Clancy, Danny Dyer, Liam Payne, Louis Tomlinson, Lily James, Rosamund Pike, Sophie Turner, Stephen Graham, Toby Jones, Maya Jama, Joe Lycett and Roman Kemp are just some of the talent who have supported Stand Up To Cancer  
• To find out more about fundraising activities visit channel4.co.uk/SU2C or follow us on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram