- Eden Voss is the winner of the Birmingham Comedy Festival Breaking Talent Award 2026
- He started his set by saying: “I’m gay, autistic and I’m going to talk about it…”
Eden Voss has been announced as the winner of the Breaking Talent Award at the Birmingham Comedy Festival 2026.
Voss, from Solihull, was presented with his award at the live final at The Glee Club on Friday night (2nd October).
Having made light of his trophy – the festival’s now iconic Mug Of Victory – Eden said: “It’s a huge honour and a shock … just to be nominated was unbelievable. It’s been incredible, really incredible winning.”
Voss only started his stand-up journey 14 months ago, although his love of comedy has been lifelong. “I’ve always loved comedy,” he said. “As a kid of eight, I had a portable television in my bedroom, a black and white TV, and I used to watch comedy until 2am.
“I’m mostly influenced by female comedians, like French & Saunders, Victoria Wood, Ruby Wax, but also old comedians like Ronnie Corbett – the storytelling aspect, him sitting in that chair [in The Two Ronnies].”
Since making his unplanned live debut at a Queer As Joke show in July 2025, after completing a couple of stand-up courses, Eden’s comedy career has “snowballed” with gigs as far afield as Bristol, Manchester and Kent.
Of his future plans, Eden said: “I love so many different aspects of comedy: I love writing; I love performing; I love travelling to gigs. There’s nothing I’m not open to. I’d love to support someone [well-known] and learn from that experience.
“And,” he smiles, “maybe do a podcast – isn’t that a legal requirement?”
Despite only recently starting out, Eden’s already working on his own solo show, Autastic!
“It’s mostly about my life, learning about myself and turning it into comedy,” says the comic, who began his Breaking Talent set with the line: “I’m gay, autistic and I’m going to talk about it…”
Alongside Eden, the Birmingham Comedy Festival Breaking Talent Award 2026 also welcomed performances from four other nominated acts. Coventry’s Andy Bucks confessed to his love of Gmail, his sexual awakening, and concluded with an unexpected keytar sing-a-along; Leamington Spa’s Rik Goodman outlined how he’d host Good Times With Rik Goodman, his own live comedy night; Birmingham born and bred Naph celebrated feel good British TV, family and career; and Nina Semple, also from Brum, revealed her love of cranes.
The night was MC’d by James Cook, and also featured a closing set from award-winning Hull comedian Louise Atkinson.
A collaboration between the award-winning arts festival and The Glee Club, the Breaking Talent Award was set up in 2014 to celebrate emerging comedic talent exclusively from the city and wider West Midlands. Previous winners have included Josh Pugh, Celya AB, the late Andrew McBurney (Gary Powndland), Hasan Al-Habib and Tom Towelling.
The judging panel for the 2026 award was Glee Club founder Mark Tughan, Darren Harriott and a representative from Birmingham Comedy Festival.
Discussing the winner’s potential, Harriott says: “Eden showed all of the skills – he could be a professional comedian.”
Birmingham Comedy Festival runs until Sunday 11th October, with over 100 performances scheduled across 25 venues. Voss will perform Autastic! at Cherry Reds on Tuesday 6th October at 6.30pm. The full programme can be seen via bhamcomfest.co.uk
