I didn't make the Chortle awards on Monday night. While comedy insiders hobnobbed with the likes of Eddie Izzard and Alistair McGowan, I was in a committee room at the House of Commons with Ken Loach and Lord David Steel. So what did I miss? And were the awards awarded well? If yes, then I humbly claim credit – I was one of several judges who assembled in a Camden pub two months ago to gorge myself on sausage and mash while thrashing out a shortlist. And as for the missteps ("the awards", according to the press release, "soon became a tribute to Michael McIntyre") – nothing to do with me, of course.
McIntyre bagged the award for best tour as well as the TV and radio award for his Comedy Roadshow. (He also collected the breakthrough act gong on behalf of Scots comic Kevin Bridges.) That's a fair reflection of what has undoubtedly been McIntyre's year – even if many of us find that, skilful delivery notwithstanding, his material is often yawnsome. Other comics who clearly had a boom 2009 were Sarah Millican, who became the first woman to win in the best headliner category, and Armando Iannucci, who was honoured with an outstanding contribution award.
Elsewhere, the excellent Tim Minchin snaffled best music or variety act, despite having not treated us to any new material in the last year. And Edinburgh comedy award-nominees Idiots of Ants were garlanded as the best sketch or character act, which isn't very exciting but reflects the fact that their new show is the funniest yet. But how they defeated the Pajama Men, also nominated in the same category, is anyone's guess. (Perhaps it's because "sketch or character act" doesn't remotely cover what the Pajama Men actually get up to on stage.)
Over that sausage and mash in Camden, most of the judges' heated debate centred on who should take the best show award. Mark Watson's promenade comedy show The Hotel had its passionate advocates, as did the US standup (and Ricky Gervais's new best friend) Louis CK. The Pajama Men, again, were strong contenders. But I'm quite happy to see last summer's chronicle of a reluctant activist, Tom Wrigglesworth's Open Return Letter to Richard Branson, given the nod. This tale of the Yorkshire comic's bumbling crusade against UK rail fares is excellently constructed, and makes what is, in the context of modern standup, a rare hands-on connection with the political world.
The most intriguing winner, though (the pasty-faced ghoul at the laughter feast) went to Kim Noble, who picked up the award for innovation for his show Kim Noble Will Die. In this case, "innovation" clearly extends to being scarcely a comedy show at all. Noble's prankster's suicide note was as much live art or theatre as comedy. But his award is richly deserved; not least because it proves that provocative, genre-busting comedy can be as successful as the rest.
