Irish Comedian Wins 'Show Me the Funny'

An Irish comedian has been crowned the winner of ITV 1's reality TV contest, Show Me the Funny.

Patrick Monahan won the first series after competing against two other finalists and winning the audience's vote. Each of the three finalists performed a 5 minute set of original material.

Monahan beat Tiffany Stevenson and Dan Mitchell in last night's live show. Stevenson finished the show in third place, while Mitchell finished as runner up. Both will join Pat on his headlining comedy tour starting next month.

Laughing all the way to the bank Monahan also secured a prize of £100,000 and his own stand-up DVD release.

Speaking after his win, Monahan said: "I'm genuinely shocked. I thought I was going to go out after the first week."

Referring to the prize money, the 35-year-old said he wanted to give his prize money to his family as thanks for supporting him.

He used material from his own family for his routine, including the joke "My dad's Irish and my mum's Iranian – so we spent most of our family holiday in customs."

The live final, which hosted by Jason Manford, included the judges Alan Davies and comedy critic Kate Copstick. They were also joined by guest judges Bob Mortimer, Ross Noble and Johnny Vegas.

Vegas, who mentored Monahan, said: "I'm made up about it. It's showed him that others had more faith in him than he had in himself."

He said: "Comedy has never been bigger and this show has given a thoroughly deserving guy the chance to shine. Pat pulled off a brilliant gig tonight and I'm really pleased for him."

While host Manford added: "Comedy has never been bigger and this show has given a thoroughly deserving guy the chance to shine. Pat pulled off a brilliant gig tonight and I'm really pleased for him.

"I think he did really well. He got some huge applause. He really stood out tonight."

Monahan's 12-date tour, where he will be supported by the two runners-up, will begin on 17 September, with his DVD released on 28 November.

(LB/BMcC)