The Master of Ceremonies from Frome’s Submarine Comedy Club, Tim O’Connor, is spending two weeks in August as a judge at the prestigious Edinburgh Comedy Awards.
Now known as the Foster’s Edinburgh Comedy Awards, the competition began in 1981 and runs alongside the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.
Its past winners include Al Murray, Dylan Moran, Lee Evans, Sarah Millican, Frank Skinner, and most recently Bridget Christie. The top prize is £10,000, with other prizes of £5,000 for Best Newcomer and a £5,000 special award.
Since Thursday, Tim has been sharing a house with judges from BBC, Channel 4, and Steve Coogan’s Baby Cow Productions. Comedy editors from The Times, The Independent, and the Daily Telegraph have also been living with them.
Tim said, “This is a real Charlie & The Chocolate Factory golden ticket moment for me, but with less chocolate! It is hard work though; I have to attend and review about 10 shows a day, then go to all the top parties and hang out with comedians and celebrities, as you do!
“I have accepted this opportunity on behalf of everyone involved in the Submarine Comedy Club, the Frome Festival, Frome Writers Collective, Frome FM, and Frome itself.
“The interview panel were impressed by how much good comedy goes on in our town, and as we know, we all punch above our weight.
“When I first started doing stand-up three years ago, I did wonder how talking about living in Frome would go down in front of 120 merry Glaswegians. Turns out they liked it! How can you not love Frome?”
Whilst there, Tim has done some stand-up of his own at the Father Tedfest show at the Underbelly. He also swapped his banter for boots in a football match against Stenhousemuir FC, playing alongside comics like Jason Byrne, Jimeoin, and Owen O’Neill.
Tim said, “The awards will give me a great opportunity to see and talk to a lot of acts that I otherwise wouldn’t see, and perhaps get them to come and play in Frome to our fantastic audiences.”
For Frome comedy lovers, the next Submarine Comedy Club will be at the Archangel on Thursday 11th September.
With comics including Geoff Whiting and Glenn Burford, it will be in aid of the charity OpenStoryTellers, who help people with learning and communication difficulties.
