Pat Smith takes Laughter Class title

Former soldier Pat Smith has won the comedy talent hunt run by Jim Davidson.

The 32-year-old took the Laughter Class crown at the Concorde Club in Eastleigh this week, and now gets to support Davidson on tour as part of his prize.

He was one of nine finalists who received three days of training in all areas of comedy ahead of the final

Mentors Christopher Biggins, Bobby Davro, Britain’s Got Talent comic Kev Orkian and circuit stalwart Nik Coppin – as well as Davidson himself – give them tips on such as joke writing and punchline delivery, panto performance, stage presence, timing, mic technique and dealing with hecklers.

It is all being filmed for a series on Davidson’s streaming channel Ustreme. 

Liverpudlian Paul Barton, a 54-year-old health and safety advisor came second place and 52-year-old Lee Goode, a TV and film extra and part-time party bingo host from Stourbridge, took third.

The other finalists were Sam Chant, Kevin McDonnell, Paula Woolven,  Stephen Dodd, Richie Rands and Des Feehily.

Davidson said of the finalists: ‘What a brilliant show they put on.

"The whole thing about Laughter Class was finding raw talent and nurturing it – and wow, what an incredible amount of talent we’ve discovered. We really  didn’t know what to expect when we started this process but the level of stand-up comedy they ended up producing was beyond anything we could have wished for. 

 ‘All nine finalists did themselves proud and they genuinely had the audience in tears of laughter. There are many professional comedians on the circuit who would love to be able to put on a performance like our finalists did.

‘They are all so different and have their own styles, personalities and stage characters, which made for a fantastic night of entertainment. The judges had an incredibly difficult job narrowing it down because the standard was so exceptionally high across the board but Pat is a well-deserved winner.

‘If this is the sort of amateur talent we have in this country then the industry is safe. We can’t wait to continue working with them all as they follow their comedy career dreams.’

Judges in the final were veteran tabloid TV critic Garry Bushell, comic Miles Crawford  and Vicky Nash from Ustreme. 

The entire Laughter Class series will be streamed soon, and here's Smith at another gig, at London's Up The Creek comedy club:

Published: 2 Nov 2023