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Rules

The Midlands Comedy Awards are being run in collaboration with comedy promoters who operate live shows within the Midlands region of England. They will be operated according to the following rules:

  1. All persons or parties involved in the operation and organisation of the Midlands Comedy Awards are ineligible for nomination and receipt of any of the awards.
  2. Nominations for the awards can only be made by comedy promoters who have run at least four (4) live comedy shows in the Midlands region during the last year and by those involved in the comedy industry in both a professional or non-professional basis. In addition, media professionals, working for credible media organisations in the Midlands region, are also entitled to nominate.
  3. A comedy promoter/club is considered to be anyone who produces shows where comedy is performed to an audience of the public, regardless whether that audience has paid for entry to the show or not.
  4. Each comedy club is entitled to submit up to THREE sets of nominations, by different members of their staff, to the Awards Organisers, no matter how many shows they have run in the Midlands region in the last 12 months.
  5. Each nominator is entitled to make two nominations per awards category. These nominations must be provided to the organisers along with the nominator’s name and the name of the club, venue, organisation or “brand” they represent. They cannot nominate themselves or their own clubs/venues.
  6. The categories for the awards are as follows: Best Act, Best MC, Breakthrough Act (over 3 years), Best New Act (under 3 years/100 gigs), Best Alternative Act, Best Show (of 30 minutes length or more), Online Comedy, Best Club, Best Small Club (up to 100 seats), Best Open Mic Show, and Outstanding Contribution. It is possible to win each award multiple times in different years, with the exception of Best New Act, Breakthrough Act and Outstanding Contribution. Those three awards can only be won by the same person/institution once, and past winners of those three awards are disqualified from winning them again.
  7. Nominations will only be counted if the act or club being nominated is based in the Midlands. Nominations received for acts or comedy clubs that are not Midlands-based will not be added onto the final shortlist of nominees.
  8. For the avoidance of doubt, for the purposes of these awards “The Midlands” includes the following English counties: Cambridgeshire, Derbyshire, Herefordshire, Leicestershire, Lincolnshire, Nottinghamshire, Northamptonshire, Rutland, Shropshire, Staffordshire, Warwickshire, West Midlands and Worcestershire.
  9. The same act or institution/venue/club may be nominated in more than one category if appropriate.
  10. The Midlands Comedy Awards are overseen by an Organising Committee, whose members are currently Jay Shareef (Switch Radio), Peter Fox (Notts Comedy Review), and Nick Mellors.
  11. All nominations must be submitted electronically using the online form provided by the Organising Committee. Nominations are only accessible by the Organising Committee, and all nominations will be treated in the strictest confidence. Nominations must be received by 23:59 GMT on the 10th of December 2022. Nominations received after the deadline will not be counted.
  12. The shortlist of nominees for each category will be published on the Midlands Comedy Awards website (www.midlandscomedy.org) in mid-December 2022.
  13. The Organising Committee may, at their discretion, add one “wildcard” to the shortlist for each category.
  14. Winners for all categories, except Outstanding Contribution, will be chosen by an online vote. Online voting will be open for a minimum period of two weeks . The online vote is open to all members of the public, and winners will be decided by a free public vote.
  15. Those voting will be asked to provide their names, email addresses and social media profile (Facebook, Twitter, Google Plus). The personal information received by Midlands Comedy Awards through this process will be treated in the strictest confidence, will not be divulged to any third parties and will be protected according to Data Protection requirements under English law.
  16. The Midlands Comedy Awards are a privately operated scheme, operated by POD Comedy, to recognise achievement in comedy by acts and institutions in the Midlands region of England. No contract is being entered into between the organisers and any other entities or individuals, including the nominating promoters, the nominated individuals and venues, the award winners or those casting their votes for the awards, through these awards. POD Comedy and those involved in the organisation of these awards accept no liability in any matters whatsoever pertaining to the operations of these awards. The Organising Committee’s decisions are final and no correspondence will be entered into.
  17. The Awards Gala will not take place in 2022. The winners will be officially announced to the public via the Midlands Comedy Awards social media channels.
  18. The Organising Committee may amend any of the above should they deem it necessary to ensure the objectivity, fairness and/or smooth running of the Midlands Comedy Awards.