Emerging comedians could have the chance to perform in front of Channel 4 and S4C commissioners at next year’s Machynlleth Comedy Festival.

An initiative, focussing on emerging Welsh comedians, will see new talent showcasing their talents at both the Machynlleth and Aberystwyth comedy festivals.

A brand-new comedy artist development scheme is being launched in Wales as a collaboration between Channel 4, S4C and Little Wander in order to seek out and develop new talent, designed to open the door to future opportunities and career developments for new talent.

Selected writers and comedians from the scheme will be paired with mentors to work on comedy pieces, providing them with paid development time, professional mentorships and industry masterclasses, eventually be showcasing their work at the comedy festivals to commissioners from Channel 4 and S4C.

Charlie Perkins, Channel 4 Head of Comedy, said: “Having been to the Machynlleth and Aberystwyth Comedy Festivals across the last 12 years I’ve seen incredible Welsh comedy talent nurtured, supported, and thriving- more so now than ever.

“We’re grateful to S4C for their creative partnership and can’t wait to see what the mighty Little Wander develop.”

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Six participants will be selected for the programme, with at least half working in the Welsh language. Participants will be able to prepare material in both languages to present to the different broadcasters but must choose a primary language and broadcaster when making their application. Support is also available to new Welsh speakers and learners.

Guto Rhun, S4C Young Audiences Commissioner: “S4C are pleased to support this opportunity to develop comedy talent here in Wales. It will ensure that we can back new talent, nurture their ideas and give them the chance to shine on a prominent platform within the industry.

“Welsh language comedy has come a long way over the last few years, with S4C’s online first strand Hansh at the forefront when it comes to providing opportunities for new talent.”

Henry Widdicombe, Little Wander Company Director and founder of Machynlleth Comedy Festival added: “We're thrilled to be working with two major broadcasters to further shine a light on the burgeoning comedy talent coming out of Wales right now.

“This is such a great opportunity for Welsh and Wales based talent and we can't wait to work with the successful applicants.”