Scottish Comedy Awards: Taking Comedy Seriously?

If you're saying to yourself, 'My goodness I hadn't a clue that was happening!' you wouldn't be alone. Except for a murmur of an announcement at the beginning of the year and a very quiet press release sent out on the day, the inaugural Scottish Comedy Awards went off with little fanfare.

Hosted by a harried Des Clarke, and organised by local promoter / comedian Alan Anderson, the Scottish Comedy Awards had the same amount of gravitas as a primary school graduation. Clarke joked from the outset that the Scottish awards were an "arrogant back-slapping in response to the arrogant back-slapping of the British Comedy Awards," where comedy north of the border had been all but snubbed. If the goal of these awards was for the Scottish comedy community to be taken seriously and rise above the sanctimonious perception that it’s parochial and limited in reach and scope... it didn't entirely succeed.

The awards themselves were rolls of paper that appeared to have been designed on Microsoft Paint and printed off an inkjet. What seemed to be the downfall of the event was, for all intents and purposes, its most valiant attribute. The awards recognised not just stand-up but radio, television, podcasts, web contribution and venues. Categories like Web Contribution (Darren Connell's Twitter was given that honour) and Best Comedy Actor/Actress (Greg 'Gary Tank Commander' McHugh for the record) gave the evening a serious lack of focus. This was capped off with a botched video link-up to the Altitude comedy festival in Austria where the final two awards were presented to Fred MacAuley (Best Radio Comedian) and Daniel Sloss (Best TV Comedian) in all their delayed, pixelated glory – which left it feeling like amateur hour.

The most annoying thing about the evening was that there were people who really wanted this to work. The Skinny's very own Comedy ed, Vonny Moyes, wrote an enthusiastic piece back in February for National Collective, the arts and culture independence blog. She positioned these awards as the chance to seize on the historical momentum of independence: "Comedy has always existed as a means of palatable social commentary. It’s a vehicle for flinging ideas and opinions around that the socio-political stiffness among pals prevents." The one moment where the chittering, unsavoury jokes about Malaysian airplanes and cliquey chiding subsided was when Arnold Brown was presented with the Lifetime Achievement Award. His wry sensibility was a refreshing highlight along with his deft roasting of Des Clarke who was turned into a timid fan boy in the presence of a comedy great.

Gary Little, who was a double winner for Best Headliner and Best Festival or Tour Show said in his acceptance speech that it's "easy to slag off award shows." It may be, but the Scottish Comedy Awards have provided great material to do so. This isn't to say that the talent was unworthy of their congratulations. It's important to laud your industry. Awards instil an inherent sense of worth in the work and that always healthy rush of endorphins that accompanies it. There were a lot of hard working veterans among the recipients including Viv Gee (Outstanding Contribution to Comedy), Janey Godley (Best Podcast) and Mark Nelson (Best Radio Show). But this outing was held together by delusions of grandeur and sheer force of will. Let's look forward to next year when Anderson can step up, and get a stage manager, to put on the show Scottish comedy deserves.