Little’s showstopping set-piece about whether Jaffa cakes are biscuits or cakes took an old idea and pushed it to the absolute limit. It made an immediate impact and it was no surprise that the judges (Steve North, Peter Vincent from Manford’s Comedy Clubs, Alex Hardy of The Times, Paul Banks of the Leicester Mercury and me) felt that that he was the front runner.
The second half started strongly with Jake Lambert. He looked impossibly young and sported regulation Russell Howard-style jeans and T-shirt, but his performance suggested that he had plenty of promise. His brief set mixed wordplay with longer stories and clever self-mocking personal anecdotes. Sometimes it was not clear whether the puns were intentionally bad or just bad, but if he can apply some quality control he will definitely be somebody to watch again.
Lolly Adefope was introduced as a character comic and when she came on she immediately introduced herself as Gemma, one of those “I’m mad, I am” people who work in an office but think they are the funniest thing since Live at the Apollo. It was a bold, unexpected act and at times the audience seemed a little bemused. But to me it felt very clever and distinctive. Obviously there was a hint of David Brent about it and also in places it recalled Nick Mohammed’s deluded Mr Swallow, but there was something very original about this.
Stephanie Laing was probably the only act who came close to inducing bum grape. Her flat delivery and bleak outlook seemed to wrongfoot a crowd that was out for a laugh on a Saturday night and didn’t expect to hear a woman talking about being poked in the vagina while travelling on public transport. Laing lost the audience early on and never quite won them back. Another night, another audience and I can see this working better, but the alchemy that is so important in comedy just wasn’t there tonight.
And so to the final act. Ingrid Dahle had a nice X Factor backstory under her belt before she opened her mouth. Her family had never seen her do stand-up and had flown over from Norway only to discover that the gig was sold out. Luckily they squeezed in and almost witnessed a fairytale ending worthy of primetime TV.
The bulk of her set was based around the £5 pair of stretchy trousers she had bought from Primark. Dahle converted them into a sexy skirt, an off-the shoulder number and even a burqa among other things, to rapturous applause. Maybe with different judges she could have been the winner, but the votes went to Tom Little, who collected the £1000 prize. Dahle was placed a well-deserved second and nobody needed treatment for bum grape.
Click here to watch a compilation of the Final's best bits.
