Here in The Laughter Factory camp, we’re feeling happy, humbled and utterly honoured to have won TWO trophies at Time Out Dubai’s annual Music and Nightlife Awards.

Our one-off stand-up special from the mighty Jason Manford was named the Best Comedy Gig of the past year, at the glitzy Oscars-esque awards ceremony on March 29.

AND we picked up a silver Highly Commended plaque, in the same category, for our barnstorming September tour starring Tom Stade, Justin Moorhouse and Ian Coppinger.

So that’s Gold and Silver. Winner and runner-up. To be fair, we DID pick up a total of five of the category’s ten nominations – which for out little comedy night, was winning already. These trophies are just the icing on the cake.

Our winning comedians were quick to react to the awesome news on Twitter.

“Ah, nice one,” tweeted Jason Manford, with typical northern reserve. It makes up, we suspect, for his silver plaque in 2015, when Manford’s Laughter Factory debut narrowly lost out to pal John Bishop.

“Well done Gail and Duncan. If you ever find yourself in the UAE, go and catch one of their comedy shows,” tweeted Justin Moorhouse.

“Where does the Commander pick up his awesome trophy?” asked Tom Stade. “I always knew you guys were winners. Love it – I think ours should have been the gold one… lets be honest.”

To say we’re chuffed would be a crippling understatement. Walking on sunshine won’t do. Over the moon doesn’t come close.

So forgive this Gwyneth Paltrow moment, but we need to say thank you to a few important people. Jason, Ian, Justin and Tom – congratulations, these awards are your awards. Come back and pick them up sometime. Soon.

But also, a big shout out to our nine other comedians who were nominated on the night – that’s you Ian Stone, Jarlath Regan, Wayne Deakin, Rob Deering, Sofie Hagen, Jack Dathel, Tom Wrigglesworth, Marlon Davis and Christian Schulte-Loh.

A big hand to all our regular Dubai venues, who have given us a home to thrive – the Mövenpick Hotel Jumeirah Beach, the Grand Millennium Dubai, The Gramercy and McGettigan’s JLT.

Humungous thanks to Time Out Dubai both for the honours, and all that loyal support over the years. And hearty gratitude to the Le Méridien Dubai for putting on such an unforgettable awards do, and Cavalli Club for an after-party so mad it’s nearly forgotten.

Last but not least, thanks to you – the loyal fans who come out and support our vision of bringing world-class comedy to the Middle East. It is no overstatement to say, we could not have done it without you.

“Congratulations,” tweeted regular Dannie B. “Well deserved best value night out in the Middle East and a top Walsall bloke that puts in the graft.”

Liverpool Del added: “Congratulations Jason – so well deserved.”

Comedian Mick Ferry joined in the virtual festivities tweeting “Woohoo!!! Well done guys”.

We’ll leave you with the thoughts of stand-up Stephen Grant – who performs on our next tour from April 6 – and sealed things off nicely, tweeting: “See you next week, you award winners!”.

Because it doesn’t stop – and we can’t wait for another round.

Find out more about our April tour, and book tickets, if you like, here.