The best comedians to host your awards ceremony

Booking a comedian to host your awards ceremony is a different decision to booking one to perform at it. An awards host runs your night: the timings, the trophy handovers, the gap when the AV drops, the 90 minutes of category announcements that have to stay watchable. The jokes are the easy part.

These eleven comedians host awards for a living, and they cover the full range from black-tie national ceremonies to regional trade nights and internal recognition events.

What makes a good awards host?

A good awards host holds structure under pressure. They keep the running order moving, land a winner's name correctly first time, get people off stage warmly when they overrun, and fill dead air without the room noticing there was any. Comic ability sits second to that, because a funny host who loses the timings costs you the night.

Look for a track record hosting rather than performing, experience at your size of room, and a willingness to ask about your categories and your winners before the day. The four below are the most experienced hosts on our comedy roster.

Ian Moore has hosted awards for over fifteen years and is booked regularly through the major corporate agencies. He's done it across the full range, from large black-tie ceremonies to intimate industry rooms, with nearly thirty years of stand-up behind him.

He's also a Times bestselling crime novelist, author of Death & Croissants and its sequels, and appears on Richard Osman's House of Games, The Now Show and Fighting Talk. A comic who plots novels for a living understands pacing across three hours. Ian is the safest pair of hands on this list.

Learn more and book Ian Moore →

Al Murray is the name on this list your guests will recognise from the invitation. He created the Pub Landlord, won the Perrier, and has hosted awards across the circuit, alongside Live at the Apollo, Taskmaster and co-writing Idiots Assemble: Spitting Image The Musical.

You get a choice at the point of booking: the Pub Landlord for broad-appeal entertainment, or Al as himself, an Oxford history graduate who's made television about why Britain wins wars. Wickes booked him and reported that he stayed on afterwards and donated the Pub Landlord jacket for their charity auction, which tells you what he's like to work with once the trophies are done.

Learn more and book Al Murray →

Stephen Mangan is the polished, cross-generational choice. Your senior table knows him from Green Wing and Episodes with Matt LeBlanc, and a different cohort knows him from Sky Arts. He trained at RADA after reading Law at Cambridge, and has an Ian Charleson Award nomination and Old Vic and Broadway credits behind him.

Stephen's a working host as well as an actor, offering event hosting, after-dinner and virtual delivery. His client list runs EY, Oracle, Capgemini, AstraZeneca, HSBC, BT, Coca-Cola, Mercedes-Benz and Santander. For a gala dinner where the brief is warmth and polish rather than edge, he's the obvious call.

Learn more and book Stephen Mangan →

Justin Moorhouse carries instant recognition in a UK room as Young Kenny from Phoenix Nights, plus Coronation Street, Michael McIntyre's Comedy Roadshow and Ken Loach's Looking for Eric. He wrote and starred in his own BBC Radio 4 sitcom and is a semi-regular on 5 Live's Fighting Talk.

He also won Celebrity Mastermind, specialist subject Les Dawson, which tells you how Justin's comedy is wired. For northern and regional trade awards, sport-adjacent dinners and any room that wants familiarity without a premium-tier fee, he's the value pick here.

Learn more and book Justin Moorhouse →

Seven more comedians who host awards ceremonies

These seven all host, and each brings something the four above don't. Two are panel and Q&A specialists, two are warm-up experts who excel at cold rooms, and the rest bring a specific audience or a specific skill.

How do you brief a comedian hosting your awards?

Send the running order first, with realistic timings and a note on where it can flex. Then the category list, the winners if you know them in advance, and the correct pronunciation of every name being read out. A host who mangles a winner's name has undone the moment that person came for.

Add what they can't know: what's happened in the business this year, which sponsor is in the room, which two departments have history. And say plainly what's off limits. Hosting differs enough from a stand-up set that it pays to be clear which you're booking, and our guide to the difference between a comedian, a host and an after-dinner speaker covers where each one fits.

Frequently Asked Questions

How much does it cost to book a comedian to host an awards ceremony?

It ranges from a few thousand pounds for a circuit host to five figures for a household name. Hosting a full ceremony costs more than a 20-minute set, since it involves rehearsal, scripting around your categories and several hours on stage. Send us your running order and we'll quote against it.

Does the awards host write their own script?

They write their own links and opening, from the running order and whatever you give them on the categories and the industry. You supply the facts and the boundaries. Handing a comedian a fully scripted set to read is usually the point at which an awards host stops being funny.

Can the awards host also do a stand-up set on the night?

Yes, and it's usually better value than booking two acts. Everyone on this list performs as well as hosts. Agree both at enquiry so the fee and the running order account for it.

How far in advance should you book an awards host?

Three to six months for a named host, longer if your ceremony falls in the autumn awards season or in December when availability tightens across the whole circuit. Regional and internal nights can often be filled at shorter notice.

💡 Want a comedian to host your next awards ceremony? Send us the date and the running order and we'll find the perfect PepTalk expert for your organisation. Send us a message and we'll set up a free strategy call. Remember, it's always a good time to get a PepTalk!