Whitley Bay writer wins Sunday for Sammy sketch award

The Exchange Theatre, in North Shields, played host to the finals of the Clement and La Frenais Comedy Writing Award 2022, which was won by Whitley Bay-based Ian McCormick.

After a two-year break, Sunday for Sammy launched its competition “A Sketch for Sammy” to find home grown North East comedy writing talent.

Comedy writers were invited to submit a sketch of no more than five minutes duration which were then reviewed by top Tyneside comedian and writer Jason Cook.

The four short-listed writers all received mentoring sessions with Jason to help them polish the scripts and then they were performed by a professional cast at The Exchange.

The show was compered by Steffen Peddie and featured other top local comedians.

Judge and Chair of the Sunday for Sammy Trust, Tim Healy said: “The standard this year was as good as ever and it was hard to come up with a winner.

"For originality and laughter value, it had to be ‘Billy Well It’ by Ian McCormick, a sketch about a Vegan family and a son who rebelled and ate a bacon sandwich.

"I enjoyed all four sketches which were acted out tremendously and I’d like to thank each of the finalists for giving us such a good laugh.”

Ian receives the 2022 award, and his sketch may feature in any forth coming Sunday for Sammy shows and subsequent DVD.

The other finalists and their sketches were ‘Byker Grove Reboot’ by Francesca Best; ‘Coming Oot’ by Jamie Diffley; and ‘A Game of Two Halves’ by Jamie McLeish.