Winner of Radio 2 audience vote

Japanese comedian Yuriko Kotani has won this year's BBC Radio New Comedy Award 2015.

She won the phone vote of listeners to the Steve Wright In The Afternoon Show, which broadcast the show live from the Comedy Store in London.

On being announced the winner, Kotani – who was a runner-up in So You Think You're Funny earlier this year – said: 'I'm speechless… This is so wonderful!'

She will take home £1,000 and development support from the BBC radio comedy department; with the chance to appear in slots across the BBC.

Last year's winner, Lost Voice Guy (aka Lee Ridley), was at yesterday's gig, hosted by Patrick Kielty, to hand over the award.

The other finalists, chosen from 750 audition tapes, eight regional heats and two semi-finals, were Russ Peers, Michael Stranney, Athena Kugblenu, Ken Cheng and Andy Storey.

Radio 2 controller Bob Shennan said: 'The talent this year has been fantastic, so congratulations to Yuriko, I'm sure we will be hearing a lot more of her in the future.

'Discovering and nurturing new talent remains a priority for Radio 2 which is why I scheduled the New Comedy Award at the heart of the Radio 2 daytime schedule.'

Julia McKenzie, the BBC's head of radio comedy, said: 'Over the years this competition has unearthed some of the best new comedy talent in the country and has acted as a springboard for many household names. We look forward to working with Yuriko across the comedy department, where we are committed to bringing our listeners new and original voices.'

The Steve Wright show previously broadcast sets from each of the regional heat winners, while each heat aired on Radio 4 Extra.

Previous winners and finalists include Rhod Gilbert, Sarah Millican, Alan Carr, Lee Mack and Josie Long.

Read our review of the event here.

Here is Kotani's winning set:

Published: 20 Nov 2015