STAINES LOCAL IS THE KING OF COMEDY

A Staines local has been crowned the King of comedy after winning the national Costa Light Comedy Challenge final – Costa’s nationwide search for the brightest new comedic talent.

Pete Beckley, 42, won over stand up star Paul Tonkinson and the Comedy Store Management when he performed a 5-minute set at the Comedy Store in London last Saturday (19 November 2011).  Pete was up against eleven other stand-up hopefuls who had already battled their way through regional heats.  He has won a 10-minute stand-up spot at The Comedy Store in both London and Manchester, a fast-track ticket to the big stage, as well as a year’s worth of Costa Coffee.

Pete said:  “It was a fantastic atmosphere - I was just happy that the audience laughed in all the right places and to win the competition was the icing on the cake. Definitely one of the highlights of my year. Paul did an excellent job of compering and the Costa team looked after us well with cakes, coffee and sandwiches. I'm buzzing and it's not just from the free Costa Coffee! It felt great playing The Comedy Store and I can't wait to perform there again on a Friday night in 2012.”

Paul Tonkinson said: “It’s been a fantastic afternoon and a fantastic competition. Everyone up there today did really well and I think it highlights the fact that up and coming talent in British comedy is in a really healthy state. I think Pete will go far.”                                                                  

In celebration of the launch of Costa Light, a lighter tasting coffee, Costa called on up and coming comedians to see the lighter side of life and enter The Costa Light Comedy Challenge.  Launched on 21^st September,  budding comedians were asked to upload a one-minute section of their stand-up routine to a dedicated microsite (www.costalightcomedy.co.uk) for public voting.  The top entries were invited to regional Costa Light ‘Laugh off’ regional heats before competing in the final. 

For more information, go to www.costalightcomedy.co.uk