Joe Lycett thanks Liz Truss and Nadine Dorries in National Comedy Awards speech

Comedian referenced Conservative political figures while accepting the trophy for ‘Comedy Game Changer’

Joe Lycett took the time to thank former prime minister Liz Truss during his acceptance speech at the National Comedy Awards on Friday (17 February).

The comedian took home the trophy for Comedy Game Changer during the ceremony held at London’s Roundhouse.

Lycett made headlines in 2022 for his running gag about being a fan of Truss and her political career – namely, an appearance on Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg, during which he jokingly classified himself as being “very right-wing”.

He later framed a front-page headline that discussed his mockery.

While on stage at the awards ceremony, Lycett kicked off his acceptance speech with a shout-out to Truss.

“Liz Truss! Couldn’t do it without you, girl.” he said, to laughter from the audience.

Other parts of his speech referred to separate instances of his social mischief. In 2020, he briefly changed his name to Hugo Boss in protest of the company reportedly targeting small companies and charities that use the word “boss” in their names.

“I’d also like to thank Hugo Boss for designing those lovely Nazi uniforms, and then to the company Hugo Boss for their unending appetite to protect their intellectual copyright,” Lycett added.

Next, the comedian nodded towards his Qatar campaign of last year, in which he highlighted the World Cup taking place in a country with anti-LGBTQ laws.

Joe Lycett (PA)

He continued: “To everyone on Twitter with a football team logo as their profile picture, for keeping me grounded.

“To Nadine Dorries, for everything she’s done for culture,” Lycett said for the former digital, culture and media secretary.”

Lycett wrapped up his speech by thanking the lawyers of Channel 4 “who have protected me throughout my career from myself”, as well as cheekily stating that BBC chairman Richard Sharp should stand down from his post.

“And with that in mind, I’d like to say that Richard Sharp should stand down as the BBC chairman and that’s not my opinion, but the opinion of Channel 4 television,” he quipped.

The official Channel 4 Twitter account reposted the speech and called it one “we are going to pretend we didn’t hear”.