Fresh meat: the 2014 Foster’s Edinburgh Comedy Award Best Newcomer nominees

Who’s this? A 33-year-old comic hailing from southeast London.

What’s his show about? In ‘Citizen Dane’ the no-nonsense comic flits between many topics – his Grenadan parents, nutmeg, wasps, Superman – and often produces observational gold.

Are big things predicted? Definitely. He has ‘panel show regular’ written all over him. So catch ‘Citizen Dane’ (January 26 to 31) before he starts filling bigger venues.

That doesn’t sound like the name of stand-up comedian. Correct! This lot are a Manchester-based sketch trio.

What kind of sketches? Well, they describe their show as ‘just jizz and bumholes’, which is semi-true – there are masturbation gags aplenty. But there’s intelligence and dry wit behind the toilet humour. You won’t see their punchlines coming even when ‘coming’ is the punchline.

Give me dates. Tuesday January 13 to Saturday 17.

Google’s just bringing up those rotating trays. Yeah, er, this sketch duo don’t have the most search-engine-friendly name. Lazy Susan are Celeste Dring and Freya Parker.

What sets them apart from other sketch acts? Lazy Susan’s skits are character-driven, with the big laughs coming from Dring and Parker’s subtle performances, and there’s a great deal of heart and warmth to each character.

When can I catch them? You have just three chances to see Lazy Susan’s ‘Extreme Humans’, on January 22, 23 and 24.

Hasn’t Time Out been banging on about her for a while? We have, yes. We’ve been championing this Hull-born comic since she won the BBC New Comedy Award in 2012. (And – glad to see you’re a regular reader of the comedy pages. Thanks for your continued support.)

Has the BBC kept in touch? Oh yes. After a successful pilot, Beaumont’s working on a series for Radio 4, and Maureen Lipman’s playing her mum.

What’s her shtick? Beaumont’s stand-up is full of homely observations and innocent anecdotes. It’s slow-burning, but there are sharp punchlines around every cosy corner. Her debut show, ‘We Can Twerk it Out’, runs January 19 to 21.

Don’t you mean Steve? No, that’s not a typo. You’re not the first to get this 27-year-old Aussie comic’s name muddled, though. You’re forgiven.

Thank you. What does Stev – sorry, Steen – do then? Character comedy involving the audience. He coerces punters into taking part in mock job interviews or smothering his body in sunblock. But it’s always playful, never scary.

Sounds great! When’s he in town? Er, well, not any time soon. Raskopoulos is based Down Under, so he’s currently enjoying the Aussie summer. He’ll be back, though. We don’t know when, but he’ll be back.

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