Looking back at the Channel Awards comedians

Looking back at the Channel Awards comedians

Comedy is always a difficult one to gauge, but the Channel Awards has had some impressive (and perhaps not-so-impressive) hosts over the years. Sara Yirrell reminisces about the comedians that have made us laugh (or not) in the past three decades

It is hard to believe that the CRN Channel Awards are turning 30 this year, but the event has become a diary staple for many in the channel, and has been dubbed the Channel Oscars as hundreds of companies battle it out to take home a trophy.

As we get nearer to the entry deadline date (Friday, 30 June), I took yet another trip down memory lane to remember some of the big names that have hosted the awards over the years.

This year will be the 24th Channel Awards I have attended, and one of the highlights (or lowlights) for me has always been who is hosting the awards. It is always kept a secret until the night itself.

I should say as a disclaimer that this article is my opinion only - others may well disagree - and it is not in any particular date order.

Before I joined CRN in 2000, the awards had already seen Ronnie Corbett and Griff Rhys-Jones as hosts, and in 1999 attendees were lucky enough to see the great Bob Monkhouse announce the winners and share his particular brand of humour.

At my first ever channel awards, we had Rory Bremner as host and he kept everyone entertained with his fabulous impressions. At the time the Channel Awards were slightly smaller than they are now so we only had a section of the room cornered off, rather than the whole venue. How times change.

My second awards saw a heavily pregnant Melinda Messenger as the host. She was distinctly underwhelming in my opinion, and I still don't get the rationale behind that particular choice! But I'm sure some people enjoyed her appearance.

My two favourite hosts were: firstly Graham Norton, who held a copy of CRN the whole time he was onstage (remember the magazine folks?!) and absolutely rinsed every ounce of comedy out of it, including a look at some of the ridiculous acronyms we tend to use and some dodgy sounding phrases.

Second favourite was Bill Bailey, who was not only very funny, but showcased his musical talents in a fascinating performance. Just brilliant to watch.

We have also seen a few repeat hosts over the years, with Jack Dee, Rob Brydon and Omid Djalili all appearing on stage twice each.

Jack Dee had actually read a copy of CRN before he appeared, and had a great time ripping it to shreds both times he appeared- he was actually hilarious (in my opinion). Rob Brydon was disappointing the first time he appeared, repeating a sketch he had done on the radio only the day before, but he made up for it the second time round, singing with our live choir as he walked on stage and including lots of references to the channel in his routine. Sadly the video of his performance was taken down on the insistence of his agents.

Omid Djalili was hilarious and a really lovely person to boot. The first time he hosted he unfortunately shared the stage with Phil Jupitus. I don't really have a lot of positive feedback about his time on stage so I will leave it at that. The second time Djalili hosted, fortunately it was a solo performance and he was a big hit.

Another host that I try to forget is Jo Brand. When briefing our hosts we do ask them not to make any insults personal and to keep it light hearted, but she managed to insult quite a few people that evening, including a major sponsor who had shipped a number of important visitors over from the US. It was quite a ‘cringe' moment I have to say.

Keeping up with the terrible host theme, Frankie Boyle took to the stage in 2016 - my last year as Editorial Director at CRN. Personally, I've never been a fan, but that was definitely cemented on the night for me. Again, enough said.

When I first became CRN editor in 2007 we had Dara O'Briain as our host. He was surprisingly tall and an extremely lovely person both on and off stage. He had studied the channel and listened very carefully during his briefing, and used his new knowledge to make some very specific and genuinely funny jokes. He went down very well indeed.

Following years saw some other big names - Jimmy Carr (quite an interesting person to meet - I'll let you make of that what you like), Ed Byrne (I'll never forget him because I had to lend him £30 for a taxi) and Stephen K Amos - another genuinely nice person who was a last-minute surprise hit after the original host decided the week before the event that they ‘didn't do trade awards evenings' anymore. They shall remain nameless - but I am still a massive fan of theirs to this day.

Other more recent names include Russel Kane (absolutely brilliant), Kathryn Ryan (meh) and Justin Moorhouse - probably one of the least known names on the circuit, but he made a good effort. Did that sound patronising?

During lockdown in 2020 when the awards were forced to go virtual, the host was Colin Murray. He did a great job under the circumstances with a comedy performance from CRN's then editor Doug Woodburn thrown in. Ah the memories.

In 2021 when the awards returned in physical form, Patrick Kielty was the host of choice. He was very funny and it was obvious how happy everyone was to be back at an in person awards evening.

Sadly last year, and again this is my opinion, our joint hosts of Sally Phillips and Ronnie Ancona fell pretty flat - they talked over each other and just weren't very funny. Everyone's a critic, right?

So who is going to host the big 30th celebrations this year? I'm afraid you will just have to attend on the night to find out. It is a surprise!

Who was your favourite over the years? Have I missed anyone out? Please do get in touch and share your own thoughts.

Remember entries close on Friday 30 June - less than three weeks to go.

To find out more about submitting an entry, and to read the criteria, please click here.