So You Think You're Funny? winner announced

Irish comedian Aisling Bea has been crowned the 25th winner of So You Think You’re Funny?

She is only the second woman ever to have won the competition, following in the footsteps of Rhona Cameron 20 years ago.

Collecting her £5,000 first prize, she said: ‘The only thing I’ve won before was dairy hamper raffle – and then I forgot to thank my mum. So thanks mum.’

Although new to stand-up, the 28-year-old performed as part of the Dublin sketch show H-BAM: Dead Cat Bounce at the Fringe in 2003 and 2004 – which later slimmed down to become the comedy band of the same name.

As an actress, Bea – who now lives in London – recently appeared in Sharon Horgan’s BBC Three sitcom Dead Boss as Laura, and has been in Cardinal Burns’s E4 series ad RTE comedy-drama Trivia and a forthcoming ITV drama called The Town.

Second in the talent hunt was Jonathan Pelham – who also took the runners-up place at the Chortle Student Comedy Award last week. Joint third were Edinburgh-based Zimbawean Wayne Mazadza and Scottish act Murdo Haggs.

The competition is run by Edinburgh’s Gilded Balloon venue and was this year sponsored by Fosters and Universal DVD,

Published: 23 Aug 2012