£10,001 for being named Petfringe Comedian Of The Year

Mark Maier has won the most valuable prize in stand-up.

The comedian scoped the £10,001 purse in the Petfringe Comedian Of The Year 2019 competition - £1 more than the Edinburgh Comedy Award.

An anonymous benefactor is funding the stand-up contest, which is now in its second year and linked to an arts festival in the small West Sussex town of Petworth, population 3,000.

The competition is open to comedians working at any level, not just newcomers, and 107 entrants were chosen to take part in the heats.

Maier started his comedy career writing and performing in adverts in the 1980s, and has made a number of Radio 4 shows, including an adaptation of his 2004 Edinburgh show, Object. As an actor, he appeared on Ardal O’Hanlon’’ sitcom My Hero and worked with Rory Bremner on his Channel 4 series Who Else?

He said he was ‘absolutely delighted’ with last night’s result.

Pun-monger Mark Simmons was runner-up with Amir Khoshsokhan and Joe Bor as Jasper Cromwell Jones joint third.

The other finalists were Sally-Anne Hayward, Alistair Williams, Pete Beckley, Josh Howie and Colin Chadwick.

Published: 7 Jul 2019