Only three could pick up awards, but the judges - producers, agents and comic Stephen K Amos - would have marked a few other comics in contention. Katerina Vrana got the short straw and started off proceedings with her high-energy riff. She has great stage presence - helped by her big fat Greek hair - but on this showing needs to put some light and shade into her presentation. Her shtick, about wanting world domination, had some neat lines but went on a just a touch too long.
I liked Charlie Covell’s deadpan delivery and silly poetry, and kudos to Elizabeth Mee, by day a solicitor, who was making her comedy debut at the age of 55. Her Aga jokes could have been routine, but she has great comic timing and knows when to let a line settle: "My son is called Roger.... which caused a bit of a problem during his schooldays." Catherine Semark had a very well thought-out act about what T-shirt slogans really say about those who wear them. (She once saw a guy wearing one that read "It won't suck itself" with an arrow pointing downwards. He was of course, stunningly unattractive.) Accomplished as her delivery was, though, I suspect she will make more impact writing rather than performing.
The overall quality of the evening was strong, but overstaying her welcome was Scotswoman Rhona McKenzie, whose entire set consisted of jokes about how fat and unattractive she is. Her five minutes seemed to last a lot longer, and besides, if I want this level of misogyny I’ll ask a male comic to talk about his girlfriend.
Jo Selby’s Tatiana Ostrakova (winner of the Vladivostok comedy festival) is a nicely observed character and I look forward to her developing it. Tatiana doesn’t get that the point of being a comic is to tell jokes that are funny, and wasn’t impressed when we failed to take her hand puppet Mr Twinkles (which she takes to special needs schools) seriously. "Now I won’t tell you the best potato joke ever."
Eve Webster is a very fine impressionist and has some clever script ideas - Ann Widdecombe going head to head with Cheryl Cole on the X Factor, for example. She appeared nervous and was trying to shoehorn too many characters into her five minutes, but the judges rightly commended her obvious talent in awarding her the runner-up prize.
Lastly, the winner, Miss London. This attractive, sassy south Londoner has energy and attitude in equal measure. Her accent veered from sarf London via the Caribbean and Nigeria as she tried to impress us with her street smarts. But then she revealed she comes from the "ghetto" of Wimbledon Village and that she was beaten up there just recently... by two foxes. Inspired, but I fear her non-stop delivery and "Stop this foolishness!" catchphrase could become repetitive. But 20-year-old student Dionne Hughes has, she told us after accepting her prize, been doing comedy for only nine months, and I'm guessing she'll learn quickly. It's clear she has a great future.
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