If you want to get ahead in stand-up get a beard. Not very fair on female comedians, but that seemed to be the message during the first comedy final of 2016. Facial hair dominated the competition, which featured seven entrants chosen by Piccadilly Comedy Club boss Mike Manera. It was no surprise then that the winner was a close shave. 

First up was Andy Storey. Critics have a habit of saying that first spot is a tough one and it was made even harder for Storey because the room was not very full. Competitors get ten minutes here – longer than most finals and it’s a better chance to really see acts’ potential. Storey is, ahem, a good storyteller with a nice ear for a phrase as he talked about his relationship and growing up in an era when kids communicated via tin cans rather than phones, which made him sound much more ancient than he is. He did look at his watch a little too much, but got things off to a solid if not spectacular start. 

The only woman in the final, Norwegian Ingrid Dahle has been popping up regularly in finals recently so I was expecting her material to be familiar. She usually has a great piece of physical clowning which involves turning her stretchy dress into different outfits but for some reason decided not to do that here. Instead her main set-piece was some audience participation prop comedy involving superheroes which maybe needs a bit more work or a less nervous audience member than the one Dahle picked. Dahle is friendly and engaging and definitely on the rise, but this set was not her best showcase. 

After a short break and some effective warm-up from compere Archie Maddocks, Eshaan Akbar opened the middle section. Akbar (pictured, by KROD photography (www.krodphotogaphy.com) was another recognisable face from comedy finals and while his material felt familiar he seems to have upped his game in terms of presentation. After getting an easy laugh with an opening gag about usually being mistaken for a doctor his first few minutes, in which he talked about his parents and revealed that he wears a hearing aid, was so slick I felt I could have been watching a Live at the Apollo set (in a good way). I thought his material dipped slightly towards the end, but only because the first seven minutes had been so good. A worthy winner of the £200 prize, despite not having a beard.

Review continues here.