Winner announced

Alex Mitchell has won the competition for the best joke at the Nottingham Comedy Festival.

The former Britain’s Got Talent contestant won for the line: ‘I did my driving test in Luton. My driving instructor asked me to pull over whenever it was safe to do so. I drove to Cambridge.’

He wins £106.90 as the competition was run by community youth radio station  Takeover Radio, which broadcasts on 106.9FM.

Mitchell will receive his prize during his show Tough at The VAT and Fiddle at 8pm on  Saturday.

The other nominated lines were: 

Philip Simon: I asked my son if he was old enough to join the Secret Service. He said, ‘MI5 or MI6?’ (From Philip Simon: ‘School's Out Comedy Club,  at The VAT and Fiddle, November 9, 12pm)

Friz Frizzle: I'm afraid of going to the doctor’s because there's a risk that they'll tell me there's something wrong with me, and I don't like criticism. (From Friz Frizzle's Funny Turn, at Hockley Emporium, November 1, 7.30pm)

Denzil de Cristo: I used to be in a rock band, we toured the Far East.’ ‘Singapore?’. ‘Yeah, Drummer was rubbish too.’ (From Denzil de Cristo: Artificially Intelligent Procrastinating Pundit, at Hockley Emporium, November 8, 7:30pm)

Angela Bra: My mum always said that 'money doesn’t grow on trees’. Which is a shame because if trees were a bank they’d be the only one with any branches left. (From Angela Bra: Secret Diary Of A Bingo Call Girl, at The Lord Roberts, Tuesday November 4 at 8pm)

Joz Norris: Sometimes I worry I'm a bad parent, but then I give myself credit for how hard I work to put food on the table. Admittedly my wife pays for the food and cooks the food, but I'm always the one who puts it on the table. (From Joz Norris: You Wait. Time Passes,  at Fisher Gate Point, November 8 at 9.30pm)

Henry Michael: When I’m not doing this I’m actually a GP, which is why you probably haven’t seen me before. (From Kevin Daniel & Henry Michael: Happy Hour,  at Canalhouse, November 3 at  6.30pm).

Published: 5 Nov 2025