Tom Ballard Wins 'Best Of The Fest' At 2017 Sydney Comedy Festival Awards

The winners of the 2017 Sydney Comedy Festival Awards have been announced, with acclaimed comedian Tom Ballard taking out the coveted local title of Best Of The Fest.

Ballard won the prize for his "critical, sarcastic, self-deprecating" show, Problematic, a self-described "funny show about whether anything can be funny any more". He's about to take the performance on tour to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe this August, having already earned significant praise for its outings at Adelaide Fringe Festival, Brisbane Comedy Festival and Melbourne International Comedy Festival.

Also earning recognition for standout stand-up was international Best Of The Fest winner Joe Lycett — for the wonderfully titled That's The Way Aha Aha, Joe Lycett — along with rising home-town star Aaron Chen, who won Best Newcomer for his show The Infinite Faces Of Chenny Baby (a prize he also deservingly took out at the MICF), and Director's Choice winner Urzila Carlson, whose Unacceptable won us over in Melbourne before going on to evidently tickle plenty of ribs in Sydney.

The 13th annual Sydney Comedy Festival ran from 24 April through till last night, 21 May, and now we're all forced to endure another 12 months of sadness until it returns to cheer us up once more in 2018.

Sydney Comedy Festival Awards — 2017 Winners

Best Of The Fest (Local)

Tom Ballard — Problematic

Best Of The Fest (International)

Joe Lycett — That's The Way Aha Aha, Joe Lycett

Best Newcomer

Aaron Chen — The Infinite Faces Of Chenny Baby

Director's Choice

Urzila Carlson — Unacceptable