He scoops Open Mic title

Karl Minns has won the Daily Telegraph Open Mic competition.

The Suffolk comic wins £2,000 and the chance to appear at the Melbourne and Montreal comedy festivals.

Minns, who had not been paid for a gig before the competition, said: "Bloody hell - I really did not expect to win. I'll try to keep it up over the next year."

Rohan Agalawatta and Des Clarke were commended by judges 'Nasty' Nigel Lythgoe, Mark Lamarr and Al Murray.

Lamarr joked: "There are at least three acts whose jokes I will steal."

And Lythgoe added: "It's great. I was surprised at the standard. It's really good for a TV executive to realise that you can get great talent without paying for it.:

Others who made the finals were John Bishop, Jarred Christmas, Richie Devlin, PJ Gallagher, Patrick Monahan, Al Pitcher and Tom Price.

Published: 21 Aug 2001