COMEDIAN Martin Cassidy could be following in the footsteps of some of comedy's biggest names today.

Martin, of School Lane, Guide, is in the final of the Comedian of the Year Competition in Manchester.

Previous winners have included Caroline Aherne - TV's Mrs Merton.

Martin, 28, who studied at the Welsh College of Music and Drama in Cardiff, has dabbled in comedy for the last four or five years, but decided to take it seriously after he was offered two nights in a club in Edinburgh.

He said: "I got a good reaction from the club owners and the people in the audience so I thought I should maybe give it a go."

Martin has done "open spots" at clubs around Manchester and is hoping today's competition will be the start of something big.

"The thing about doing stand up is you are on your own," he said.

"If you are in a theatre company and you have a bad gig you have people to talk to about it in the van on the way home. With stand up you're left on your own, crying into your beer!

"If the audience don't like it then it is more personal - it is you they don't like."

Martin has a 15 minute spot in the final, which will be a blend of straightforward stand up, observational humour and some character-based routines.

The final, run by a Manchester-based magazine, is at the Dancehouse Theatre, Oxford Road, from 7.30pm.

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