Award Winning Comedy at The Jesters Comedy Club, Bath

Award Winning Comedy Club in Bath? Last Thursday The Jesters Comedy Club attended the Creative Bath Awards at Komedia, picking up not one, but two awards! The club won in the ‘Performing Arts and Music’ category, and owner Sam Hawkins won ‘Young Creative’ at the 2026 Creative Bath Awards. If you don’t believe us, here’s a photo of them in pride of place behind the bar:

The Creative Bath Awards said of Sam Hawkins: 

“Sam Hawkins’ masterminded a vital, community-powered comedy concept, achieving remarkable event growth. Quite the impact in a short time”

They said of the club itself: 

“Jesters Comedy Club energises Bath’s performing scene, nurturing emerging comedians while adding immense cultural value to the Assembly”

The awards were a pleasure! We sat with Emerge, BSU’s creative graduate residency programme, who’ve supported Sam and The Jesters since their humble beginnings. Emerge were recognised in their own right picking up the award for ‘Creative Arts’! It was so uplifting to see lots of familiar faces on the night, to see every kind of creative representation felt reassuring that Bath’s independent arts scene is thriving.

And Away! The ceremony was off to flying start. Hawkins decided to go for a tactical nicotine break, though it was mistimed as he received a flurry of texts saying “get back in here, you’re up!”. Sam made it just in time to hear his name called out and headed straight to the stage to claim his trophy for ‘Young Creative’. Sam joked in his acceptance speech how he would have vaulted from his chair onto the stage had he been there at the time. Fortunately, the people of Bath got to witness this as he clambered up to collect his second award minutes later! 

In the same way that the club got recognised for its contributions to the local arts scene, we in turn would like to thank the local communities that have made The Jesters what it is today - the best it can be. 

A very special thank you goes out to our resident Jesters Ollie Young and Holly Leggett for booking acts, hosting shows, and performing every week since our inception in 2024, and a thank you to everyone who has ever performed on our stage. From our frequent open mic comics to the Saturday headliners that make the space their own, the whole Jesters community is one of support, acceptance, and good-natured humour which would not exist without you.

We’d also like to give a huge thank you to Jen Brown of The Assembly Inn and Abbey Ales for letting us take over their cellar space - she puts up with so many weird goings-on in the basement and doesn’t ever bat an eyelid, we’re eternally grateful for her involvement. 18 months ago she took a chance on an idea, it’s fair to say (after all the hard work) it paid off.

A huge thank you goes to Emerge for their support and community. Sam originally joined Emerge as part of their first cohort of creative graduates in 2020. The idea was much more rudimentary back then, just some speakers and palette to do pop up gigs in parks as a counter to the pandemic. Without the advice and support of Emerge’s founder, Charlotte Godfrey, The Jesters would not be what you see today. 

To the Creative Bath judges, Thank you for this award. To be recognised for the work we love doing, is second to none. We also thank you on behalf of all the new acts rising through our ranks who get to say that they are a part of an award winning community.

We assure you that we have no plans on slowing down. We are fully committed to delivering the best club comedy in Bath. Now we know what is capable, we’re eager to go bigger and better. We want nothing more than to share our passion for live comedy in Bath with you. Thank you for your support, we look forward to welcoming you back to our newly award winning comedy club, very soon. 

Lastly, we’d like to thank you, reader. As a reward for still being here, below is a brand new documentary about The Jesters and how it came to be. It was created by fellow comedian and friend of the club, Alfred Taylor. We hope you enjoy.

Watch Fifty Seats | The Story of Bath's Funniest Basement