I met with the judges in the lobby of the Ramada Encore Hotel, where most of them were staying for the night. I was first to arrive and I sat sipping tea with Geoff Rowe the festival director, as one by one the great and good of the comedy industry joined us - Steve North (General Manager of the Dave TV channel), Andy Leitch (formerly part fo the festival organisers, now working for Off the Kerb who represent some of the biggest stars in comedy - seriously check out their website and be amazed at the number of famous names!), Sarah Farrell (Head of Content & Development for Comedy Central), promoter Mick Perrin (whom I had watched on BBC iPlayer just the previous night along with his star client Eddie Izzard) and last but not least Bruce Dessau, comedy reviewer for the Evening Standard and writer of the 'Beyond the Joke' blog). To say I felt honoured and privileged to be amongst such company is a somewhat cheesy and oft-used sentiment, but thoroughly appropriate under these circumstances. After the meeting and greeting we headed several yards along the street to Chutney Ivy and enjoyed a lovely selection of Indian treats and a chatted over a cheeky beer, before proceeding to The Y Theatre to take our seats at the judges' table.
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| Host - Jarred Christmas |
