New comedy final held in Edinburgh

Cardiff-based Jethro Bradley has won this year's BBC Radio New Comedy Award.

He takes home £1,000 and a 15-minute script commission from BBC Radio Comedy, plus mentoring from the in-house comedy department.

On scooping the prize, he said: 'I’m feeling ever so slightly surreal. It’s like it could be happening to someone else who’s borrowed my body and my name!

'Winning this award is validation after spending a good portion of my life in various strange basements of pubs, struggling alongside many other talented people who also would also want to be standing here tonight, so it’s a massive pat on the back and I hope it means I’ll be able to do much more comedy.'

Born in Windsor, Bradley came into comedy via the improv scene in London and has been performing stand-up regularly around the UK for just over three years. He recently won the Welsh Unsigned Stand-Up Award.

The BBC final was broadcast live on Radio 4 from the Edinburgh Fringe tonight, hosted by Mark Watson and judged by comedians Mark Steel, Katy Wix and John Finnemore, the BBC’s head of comedy Chris Sussman and commissioning editor Sioned Wiliam

Wiliam, said: 'It was a unanimous decision to give Jethro the BBC Radio New Comedy Award 2016. He is a very assured performer, had some brilliantly written lines and there’s something about him that feels incredibly original.'

Previous winners and finalists in the competition include Alan Carr, Peter Kay, Sarah Millican, Lee Mack, Russell Howard, Josie Long and Shappi Khorsandi.

More than 700 people entered the competition, whittled down to 60 acts for six regional heats in June.

The other finalsts were Sindhu Vee, George Lewis, Lauren Pattison, Michael Odewale and Catherine Bohart.

Published: 14 Aug 2016