 Comedy awards like the open mic offer new comedians much more than prize money. They bring publicity, introductions and that all-important 15 minutes of fame. But the prize every comedian would give their best line for is this one. The Perrier Award. The oldest award in comedy still gets plenty of attention, but even the comedians believe it's lost its sparkle. It doesn't create a particularly nice atmosphere. I mean, it's turned into almost like comedy's turned into like athletics. You know, people say, oh, are you going to win the Perrier? It's not like the 400 meters. You can't train for it. You can't go, right, but I've been training really hard and my time's got my times down. You don't know, do you? But it still has its supporters. This BBC talent scout says comedians treat the festival as a trade fair and the Perrier is harmless fun. It isn't the only way to develop your career and everyone appreciates that. So I think the acts who are up for it are up for the awards and those who aren't will find their own way. You know, people do break through in comedy without necessarily winning an award. Critics say the judges don't spread their net wide enough and that the Perrier panel is an incestuous mix of comics and critics. The whole thing on the face of it seems incredibly not corrupt, and certainly no money changing has, but just as if there's so many people with fingers in different pies, that how could it possibly work? But in a way, that's exactly where it does work, because everybody's pulling in different directions that at the end of the day you can influence it beyond your, you know, one man, one vote, or one woman, one vote. Others say awards simply commercialise comedy, but that doesn't stop comedians queuing up for the sweet taste of success. Let's have a weather forecast now from Helen Bullitts. Thank you, Philip.