British comic Chris Turner catches a break...

British stand-up Chris Turner is to record his first US special tomorrow night.

The relatively unknown comic is taping his first solo show, Pretty Fly, at the Hollywood Improv in Los Angeles and will release it as a CD later this year on the Comedy Dynamics label.

Previous acts to release specials through the Californian label include Doug Stanhope, Craig Ferguson, Mike Birbiglia and Marc Maron. Oxford University archaeology graduate Turner is the first British-based comic to release a special through the label.

Comedy Dynamics boss Jack Vaughn signed Turner, who is also part of the improv troupe Racing Minds, after seeing a video of the rapping one-liner comic competing in the 2011 BBC New Comedy Award heats, which went viral on the social networking website Reddit. The clip has since accumulated more than 1,350,000 views on YouTube.

'It's the power of the internet' said Turner's agent Shaun Almey. 'Jack Vaughn told me that he really liked Chris, we kept exchanging emails and it just progressed to the point where he offered him a contract'

'The clip only had 250,000 views on YouTube until someone posted it on Reddit, then it just went ridiculous. We had enquiries from everywhere'.

Last month, Turner won the Amused Moose People's Choice award for Pretty Fly – his Edinburgh Fringe debut – landing him £2,500, a UK DVD deal and gig at the Soho Theatre in London on October 13. He shared the prize with judges’ winner Celia Pacquola.

Founded in 2008, Comedy Dynamics has just launched its own comedy channel on on-demand services Hulu. It is owned by New Wave Entertainment, which has recently produced specials for the likes of Aziz Ansari, Bill Burr and Jim Gaffigan.

By Jay Richardson

Published: 10 Sep 2014