THE Albion will be crowning its king of comedy on Wednesday after a nine month search for talent.

More than 50 stand-ups entered The Albion Comedian of the Year competition in February which have now been whittled down to the final eight.

At each round the competition saw about four comedians do 10 minutes of material before a public vote for the favourite.

Now the finalists Mike Carter, Kevin Caswell-Jones, Sarah Keegan, Roland Gent, Barrie Heap, Howard Anstock, Jon Capewell and double act Tony and Jeff will perform once more for the judges Kenny Mills, Craig Bennett and David Appleton.

Comedy promoter David said: “We attract stand-ups from all over the north west but it’s really nice to see how many comedians there are in Warrington and to give people their first breaks.

“We have an average audience of about 30 people and we’ve never charged an entry fee unlike a lot of clubs.

“It’s great because they’ve had the say on who’s gone through.

“Sometimes it’s got a little bit competitive when the audience has been split on who they want.

“But the majority of people are really made up that they now get to help decide who wins in the final.”

Comedy nights are on every other Wednesday at the Battersby Lane pub and it alternates between competition rounds, hosted by Kenny Mills, and open mic nights.

David, of Alder Lane, added: “The thing the comedians and the audience like about the competition is it’s a paper vote so they don’t get gonged off or dragged off stage. Every comedian gets to do their 10 minutes. You see guys who just want to have a go and you never see them again and you also see people making a proper go of it.

“One comedian I gave his first break to was Colin Havey from Runcorn. He’s been doing it for two years now and has been getting paid work around the country. And if he’s got new material he’ll come back and do it at the Albion.”

David told Weekend it is also interesting seeing how different people deal with the pressure.

The 47-year-old said: Some want to chat, others want to shut themselves away in a corner and won’t be spoken to for two and a half hours

We try and help the newer ones through it and put them on earlier in the evening so they can then enjoy the rest of the night instead of them sitting there with every emotion going through them.”

It is David’s third year of putting on comedy at the Albion and he said he got into it through his friend Craig Bennett who used to run another stand-up night in Warrington.

The Co-op manager, who is inspired by Peter Kay and Jason and Colin Manford, added: “I used to go and watch and he kept saying to me: ‘You need to have a go’. I just wouldn’t but one day he said: ‘Your name’s on the poster’. That’s what gave me the push to do it. It’s one of them where you prepare for it but when you get there you can’t remember a thing.

“But as soon as you pick up the microphone it all flows

“When you start ad-libbing it’s great. You just see something or someone says something and before you know it 10 minutes has gone.”

The Albion Comedian of the Year grand final takes place on Wednesday at 8.30pm

DAVID MORGAN