Judges
Kathleen Hutchison
Head of New Comedy, Paramount Comedy
Before working in comedy Kathleen was involved in drama working on notable shows such as Casualty, Holby City and EastEnders.
Hutchison began working full time in comedy, her first love, in 2005 setting up The Hutch Management, working with stand-up comedians and developing comedy projects for stage and television including a pilot sketch show for Feelgood Fiction starring Nathan Caton in January 2007 and a 30 minute narrative comedy Standing-Up, written by Tommy Mack.
In February 2007 Kathleen joined Paramount Comedy as Head of New Comedy. Her remit is to develop and nurture new talent from the stand-up comedy circuit.
Over the past year she has worked with names such as Rob Rouse, We Are Klang and Jim Jeffries under the banner Short Cuts which can be seen on air, online and on Paramount Comedy’s mobile TV service.
She has executive produced over 60 hours of original stand-up programming including series of the Comedy Store, Comedy Blue, The World Stands-up and Edinburgh & Beyond, starring Al Murray. In Addition she has executive produced Specials filmed exclusively for the channel with Jack Dee and Chris Rock and a 10th Anniversary celebration of South Park – Park Life.
Kathleen is in high demand as a judge in stand-up competitions and since her arrival at the channel has appeared on panels for Funny Women, So You Think You’re Funny, Paramount Comedy On Tap and the 2007 former Perrier prize the If.comeddie award.
In 2008 Kathleen will continue to work with up and coming talent on Short Cuts as well as commissioning more stand-up series and still finds time to attend stand-up shows 3 nights a week where she hopes to spot the next big thing.
Jules Macken
Brand Manager on-trade, Magners
Jules Macken is Brand Manager for the on-trade at Magners. She is responsible for Magners' comedy sponsorships including partnerships with Magners Glasgow International Comedy Festival and broadcast network Paramount Comedy, with additional sponsorships of the Brighton Comedy Festival and Comedy On Tap among others.
Jules has been with C&C Group for the past 5 years and was previously in the wine and sprits division of the group. She joined the Magners team on a 3-month secondment 2 years ago and loved it so much, she stayed.
Jules is delighted to be a part of the Magners Pub Comedy Awards in association with The Publican and is excited about the prospect of uncovering Britain's comic talents.
Daniel Pearce
Managing Editor, The Publican
Daniel has been a food and drink journalist for 11 years, spending most of the last four at The Publican and on thepublican.com
As news editor, deputy editor and now managing editor of the trade title he has driven of a series of successful campaigns aimed at celebrating the pub industry, and offering inspiration and business-building advice to pubs up and down the country.
These have included the award-winning Proud of Pubs campaign – which has won the support of more than 100 MPs in the House of Commons – and Sell More, Save More, a ‘reality TV’ style project which transformed the fortunes of three case-study pubs in its first year.
As with the rest of The Publican team he doesn’t just write about pubs, he lives and breathes them, taking every opportunity to get involved in industry events, judge awards and get closer to the trade. Daniel regularly tests out the family-friendly policies of pubs in South West London with his children Sam, aged 7, and Alessia, aged 5, and his wife Antonella.
He is looking forward to helping put a smile on the face of the pub industry in 2008 with the Magners Comedy Awards.
Fancy getting an insight into how a successful comedy night works? Thanks to Jongleurs, you can take advantage of a 241 at any Jongleurs comedy club. To book log onto www.jongleurs.com or call 0844 844 004 quoting MPCA241. Terms and conditions apply.