Last student competitors named

The last eight semi-finalists in the Chortle Student Comedy Awards have been announced.

Winners of the 12 regional heats are joined by musical comic Rob Carter, who was selected after an audition in London, and seven acts chosen by Chortle judges as the best runners-up from across all the previous events.

They are:

Ian Smith, a previous finalist from the 2008 Chortle competition, and also a finalist in last year’s English Comedian Of The Year event.

Broderick Chow, a Canadian who has been performing comedy in the UK for more than two years, as well as studying a PhD in performance at the Central School of Speech and Drama in London

Fin Taylor, 19, who comperes a regular gig in Bristol University, where he studies history

Dominic Cross, another former Chortle finalist who has now ditched the guitar from his act ‘partly because I felt that it didn't work with the kind of comedy I want to be doing and partly because I accidentally left it on a train.’

Rhys Jones, a first year politics student at Manchester University who impressed judges at the Sheffield heat.

David Head, a 21-year-old philosophy student who performs regular gigs at Durham University ‘retelling slightly embellished stories from my real life’.

Joe Wells, an English With psychology student at Portsmouth university who has written a book about his OCD and says he is influenced by Stewart Lee, Mark Thomas and Doug Stanhope.

The events take place at the Frog and Bucket in Manchester on Sunday, and at the Tattershall Castle in London on Tuesday.

The line-ups for each gig are:

Manchester: Emerald Paston, Matt Rees, Jon Eakin, Matthew Winning, Ed Patrick, Matt Richardson, Finlay Taylor, Rhys Jones, Broderick Chow, David Head. Plus headliner Joe Lycett (2009 Chortle Student Award winner) and MC Dan Nightingale. Click for tickets

London: Rob Carter, Nicholas Cooke, Sam Gardener, Neil Hickey, Max Dickens, ‘Galeforce’ Mark Gale, Phil Wang, Ian Smith, Joe Wells, Dominic Cross. Plus headliner Joe Lycett and MC Stephen Grant. Call 07932 658895 to book.

Published: 17 Mar 2010