Entry 2013: your frequently asked questions

We've noticed a few common questions popping up in our inbox and on our Twitter feed (no, 'what's your favourite biscuit' sadly has not been asked) so we decided to answer them for everyone's benefit in a blog post. This blog post, to be precise.

"Can my audio entry be longer than five minutes?"

In a word; no. You can submit shorter audio than five minutes, but we won't accept seven minutes and 'just listen to five minutes of it'. See our terms and conditions, which state; 'recordings of routines longer than five minutes will be disqualified'.

"Does it have to be on SoundCloud? I have this great YouTube video you'd find hilarious..."

Yes, yes it does. This is a radio competition (although we do make some fabulous videos) and we've decided we want you all to enter in the same way because there's a lot of you and it makes it fairer. Last year over 800 people entered. We need people to follow our upload guide or they may be disqualified.

"Is the absolute deadline for entries absolutely the 28th June? I've got a gig coming up in July that would be perfect to record for my entry!"

Yes - there are no exceptions. Fair is fair, people.

"Does my entry have to be recorded in front of a live audience?"

No! You can record it wherever you like - just make sure that it's you performing a set of your own stand-up material. (Although if you do end up performing in your living room to your friends, family and dog, do tweet us a photo.) If your friends and family don't have time to watch, don't panic - we don't need to hear an audience, we just need to hear you.

"Can I send in a sketch? I've got a YouTube video skit that I could just use the audio from, right?"

This is a stand-up competition - we're looking for stand-up that works on the radio, so presenting yourself as a sketch act is going to make your entry appear weaker than others. It may count against you when we listen to all of the entries.

We do allow double acts and character acts – but you should be performing stand-up material, rather than a funny scene.

Have a watch of our 2012 performing at last year's final for inspiration - they even share some advice for budding 2013 entrants.