SHEFFIELD stand-up comic Gareth Urwin was a finalist in the Jongleurs New Act competition on Saturday night in Birmingham and found himself mingling with the great and good of the West Midlands.
The resident compere at the Abcom comedy night at Bar Abbey won through from hundreds of entrants who sent in clips of their act. Out of that the Jongleurs picked 30 of the best to compete in regional heats.
Gareth was one of six who won through
to the big night in Birmingham.
They performed seven-minute sets before an audience of 300 at Jongleurs in Birmingham with guest of honour Frank Skinner among the judges.
Although he was pleased with his performance, he couldn't emulate a previous winner from Sheffield, Anthony J Brown, and local comic Lou Chawner took the honours. "Deservedly so," said Gareth with good grace.
"After the winner was announced, the Lord Mayor of Birmingham took to the stage to present Frank with a star plaque, like the keys to the city as I understand it," reported Gareth.
"Frank took to the stage to rapturous applause and seemed genuinely touched by the accolade.
"I chatted to him afterwards and he seemed a really down-to-earth sort of bloke. Interestingly I learned from him that Perrier Awards go an orange colour over time and require vigorous buffing," he said. "You never know when that might come in handy.
"With Frank was fellow West Brom fan Adrian Chiles and by the time I spoke to him I was a little tipsy by this point and lied about what a great show I thought The One Show was," revealed Gareth.
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