Never has the saying “everyone’s a comedian” felt more true. Fifteen aspiring stars competed in the New Comedian of the Year final and it is likely that many will be TV regulars in a few years.
The winner has already notched up numerous accolades as a musician. David Eagle is a member of The Young’uns, who have won the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards Best Group award twice. He has now added a comedy string to his bow.
Eagle, from Stockton, is blind and instantly won over the full house by quipping that his humour was dark. It also had a mordant quality as he recalled past scrapes such as being mistaken for someone on drugs because his eyes darted around. The judges quickly chose him as the champion.
Unapologetic crowdpleaser Josh Baulf evoked Rob Beckett’s geezerish charm in a set homing in on his girlfriend’s Groupon fixation.
His relatable tales of alpaca outings, free proseccos on parachute jumps and being on “four spa packages a day” touched a nerve, earning him second place.
Lily Phillips drew the short straw by opening the night, but her dry, feminist wit bagged her joint third place alongside gifted storyteller Luke Craig, whose adroit account of moving from Croydon to Lewisham was less Fresh Prince of Bel Air and more gritty slice of London life.
Others who did not land placings and deserve a mention include Jamie D’Souza, Michael Akadiri and Eddy Hare.
Expect to be laughing regularly at them too in the future.
