Funny men Loyiso Gola and Trevor Noah lead the nominations at this year’s Comics Choice Awards.

The nominations were announced at Parker's Comedy and Jive club in Montecasino on Friday.

It's been a great year for Noah, who is currently based in the United States. Earlier this year he appeared on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, which scored him rave reviews in both South Africa and the US. Gola’s hit show Late Night News with Loyiso Gola on the eNews Channel (403) has also garnered him a lot of critical acclaim and praise.

Legendary actor and comedian Joe Mafela said it was great to see comedians like them getting the attention they so rightly deserve. “It’s great to make people laugh. We can’t do without comedy, he said. “Awards like these are a great way to say look at what we’ve done and achieved”.

This year’s Lifetime Achievement Award recipient is Joe Parker and he will be honoured at the awards on 10 July. Speaking to DStv.com he said this came as a surprise to him, “I must be honest there are people who have been in the industry a lot longer than I have. I feel so chuffed, it’s unbelievable.”

While the awards will praise his contribution to comedy, on 26 June he will get the “grilling of a lifetime” from some of his industry peers including Mark Banks and John Vlismas. “I’m going to be on guard. As soon as the final line-up is announced I’m going to get my defence team together,” he joked.

Check out the full list of nominees below:

Newcomer Award:
Donovan Goliath
Dillan Oliphant
Monique Nortje
Jason Goliath

Blackberry Breakthrough Award:
Robby Collins
Mpho Popps Modikoane
Deep Fried Man
Tats Nkonzo

The Times Comic Pen Award:
Kagiso Lediga
Loyiso Lungile Gola
Alyn Adams
Vittoria Leonardi

Comic of the Year Award:
Trevor Noah
Nik Rabinowitz
Loyiso Lungile Gola
Riaad Moosa

Lifetime Achiever Award:
Joe Parker

Audience Choice Award:
Deep Fried Man
Sifiso Nene
Eddi Eckstein
Trevor Noah

For more details visit the Comics Choice official site.

The Comics Choice Awards take place in Johannesburg on 10 July, keep an eye on Mzansi Magic for details of when it will air on your TV screens.