Black Country comedian on shortlist for comedy award
A Black Country comedian has been nominated for an award recognising breaking talent from a major comedy festival.
Lovell Smith is one of five comedians on the shortlist for the Birmingham Comedy Festival Breaking Talent Award, which recognises the very best new and emerging comedy talent from the region.
The award night on Friday, October 7 will help to officially launch the annual arts festival and will take place at the Glee Club in the Arcadian in Birmingham, the first time the festival has taken place since 2019 due to the pandemic.
The 25-year-old former champion bodybuilder was born in Birmingham, but calls Dudley home, and started performing comedy in 2019 after deciding that modelling as a bodybuilder wasn't what he wanted to do going forwards.
After winning the prestigious Midlands Best New Act Award 2019, Lovell has become an established name on the British comedy circuit, performing regularly at venues such as the Glee Club and also performing internationally.
With a style he describes as "self-deprecating with observations on every day life", Lovell's already appeared with acts such as Nathan Caton and Guz Khan and said he is a big fan of Joe Lycett and Black Country comic Darren Harriot.
He will be up against Richard Dadd, Tal Davies, Jules O'Brian and Hannah Weetman for the award.
He said that being on the shortlist was a great feeling because of the recognition it meant from his peers and said winning would be a real honour.
He said: "It's just special to be in the mix and be shortlisted for the award, but it would be overwhelming and amazing to win the award.
"I've seen people like Josh Pugh win the award and go on to do great things, so I think it would be a massive help to my career if I was able to win it."
A spokesman for the Birmingham Comedy Festival said: "After temporarily pausing Breaking Talent in 2020 and 2021, due to the pandemic, we're so pleased the award is finally back, and with an amazing line-up of next generation West Midlands talent.
"This will be a tough decision for our judging panel."
Based on live performances over the last year, participating acts have been nominated by comedy course tutor James Cook, Glee Club promoter Adam Jaremko, comedian Josh Pugh and 2021 and BBC's New Comedy Award 2021 Finalist Celya AB.
The night on October 7 will be compèred by James Cook and close with a special set from Glenn Moore.
Tickets cost £12 or £9 for students, plus a booking fee, and can be booked by calling 0871 472 0400 or going to bhamcomfest.co.uk.
