Simon Lomas is crowned funniest person in town
SIMON Lomas was crowned Southport’s New Comedian of the year on Sunday, October 23 with our very own Visiter reporter Kate Lally competing against him in the final.
The fifth annual Southport Comedy Festival competition which took place at Nando’s on Ocean Plaza saw 30 aspiring comedians battle through three gruelling heats to win a place in the final.
The final was hosted by comedian and festival organiser Brendan Riley who has 20 years’ worth of experience on the comedy circuit.
Runners up included Polish Rick in second place and Mike Carter in third place. Other new comedians who braved the stage included Steff Todd, Jamie Hutchinson and Adam Hughes.
Our reporter Kate ‘learnt to be funny’ when she decided to get involved with last year’s Comedy Festival Charity Showcase, in which a group of people who have never done stand-up before get taught the art of being funny in an intense six week course. They then put their new skills to the test with a show to raise money for the Community Link Foundation.
Kate benefited from Brendan’s experience on the comedy circuit, getting taught the techniques needed to write and perform a full stand-up comedy routine.
Kate said: “I didn’t win but I didn’t remotely expect to. It genuinely was a pleasure just to be on the same bill as such talented comics - and what an amazing way to bring the fantastic Comedy Festival to a close.”
The 11-day-long festival has brought side-splitting laughter and entertainment to Southport. The festival managed to sell out twelve shows with more than 40 events taking place in 30 venues across the the town.