2.7m see ITV's reality show

Show Me the Funny got off to a disappointing start in the ratings last night.

The hour-long show attracted an audience of 2.7million people at 9pm – only about 60 per cent of the average for that slot.

However, the show performed better among younger people, according to the overnight figures, as more than a third of its viewers were aged between 25 and 44.

The show was trounced by BBC1’s New Tricks, which achieved its best audience of the series – 8.7million – in the same timeslot.

Spanish barman Ignacio Lopez was the first comedian to be kicked off ITV1’s reality programme. The 24-year-old was one of the less experienced stand-ups taking part, but his lothario act was poorly received by the all-female audience in Liverpool.

Judges Alan Davies, Kate Copstick and Jimmy Tarbuck decided that he and Prince Abdi – who taunted the crowd with boasts of London’s superiority and mocked the Scouse accent – performed worst on the night.

And in the final reckoning, they unanimously voted off Lopez.

Copstick said of his set: ‘I thought it was like watching a low-speed car crash. I didn’t know who you were. I didn’t know what you were doing and I didn’t know why I was sitting here listening to it.’

Davies echoed that opinion, saying: ‘I didn’t get you or what you were about. You’ve got to work out who you are and let is know who you are because it’s a bit confusing at the moment.’

Yet before his set, Lopez boasted that he would be able to charm the women, saying: ‘I’m feeling incredibly confident about this. I feel this audience is custom-built for me. It should work out really well.’

Here is Lopez’s performance:

He admitted afterward it was ‘sloppy’ and a ‘bad gig’.

Judges singled out Stuart Goldsmith and newcomer Ellie Taylor for praise.

Copstick said to Taylor: ‘Ellie - I hated you when you came on. your tall and good looking and very girlie... all that hair tucky thing I can’t stand... And then you were fantastic.’

Tarby told Goldsmith: ‘As for you sir, I thought your delivery was smashing, I thought you were fantastic.’

Earlier in the programme, viewers saw a short-tempered Cole Parker clash with Patrick Monahan, rebuking him for hugging strangers in the street after the pair were sent out to meet women named Michelle, in honour of the Beatles song of the same name.

Viewers were invited to comment on the show via Twitter, which got the topic trending. But most viewers seemed to be frustrated that they had to wait through all the tasks before getting to the stand-up.

Adam Broadhead said: ‘Not sure I'd watch #smtf again, don't get to see any comedy. Stop with the cheap bleedin' reality type shows!’

Geoff Hillyer added: ‘Much better second half of this show. The comics that weren't funny were soooo hard to watch.’

And Nick Smith tweeted: ‘OMG I need to turn this programme off. I cannot deal with the awkwardness. Lead balloon after lead balloon.’

Michael Moran said: ‘So you've got 10 comics. They've got at least 5 minutes of material each. and you're showing us... 20 seconds.’ He later commented on how some of the stand-ups seemed to get their jokes from people they had met during the day, tweeting: ‘Do professional comics really just get all their material off cabbies and timewarp 80s hairdressers

Megan MacLeod tweeted: ‘Kate Copstick is my new style icon. Reaching for the red lippie, Dame Edna specs and white hair mascara now.’

The other acts taking part are: Stuart Goldsmith, Prince Abdi, Tiffany Stevenson, Rudi Lickwood, Dan Mitchell and Alfie Moore.

There are five more weeks of heats before a live final at the Hammersmith Apollo – the next challenge being to entertain the troops. The ultimate winner receives £100,000, a national tour and a DVD deal with 2entertain.

Published: 18 Jul 2011