Since its launch in 1988, the So You Think You’re Funny? alumni reads like a who’s who of stand up. The competition has launched the careers of some of the scene’s leading comedians, and the ten performers I saw at The Gilded Balloon all fully deserve their place in this elite group.
What’s interesting about So You Think You’re Funny? is not so much who’s won, as much as who got through to the last ten. Previous finalists include Rachel Porter, Sarah Millican, Jimmy Carr and Rob Beckett, which goes to show how hard it is to judge comedy.
The content was spread far and wide; we laughed at everything from mouse infidelity to laughing bottoms, and from materialist Buddhists to stammers. Every comedian was funny, irrespective of the audience’s comedic tastes. I was lucky enough to see three of the finalists in the London regionals and it was clear that they’d honed their sets to perfection. There were no lags to their sets, only good bits.
The event itself was brilliant fun, and MC’d with piss-taking aplomb by the ever-gorgeous Laura Lexx demonstrating throughout how superior crowd work elevates a night and gets the audience buzzing.
There was a specific energy in the room, which I assume is down to the competitive atmosphere, that of a generosity to the crowd that came from wanting all ten to do well – everyone was willing them all to smash it.
By the interval I’d given up trying to pick a winner and started hoping they’d all somehow get through. The fact that the judges took longer than usual to decide speaks volumes as to the calibre of the final ten. Even Laura commented on it as she worked through her set, keeping us all entertained.
My personal favourites were Sarah Dungworth and Victoria Blunt, as I could relate to their comedy and they made me laugh the most, but huge congratulations to the 2026 winner, Joshua Khoury, as well as the placed runners up Bobby Jethro, Lucas Jones Ho and Sarah Lewis.
The ten finalists were Victoria Blunt; Omar Bouzad; Chris Byfield; Sarah Dungworth; Matilda Humphreys; Bobby Jethro; Lucas Jones Ho; Joshua Khoury; Sarah Lewis; Naph.
The judging panel included Karen Koren; Katy Koren; Bruce Dessau; Angela Squire; Julia Chamberlain and Nina Conti.
