AN aspiring comedian from West Devon has won a national contest to find the UK's best new stand-up. Adam Skuse, from Beaworthy, was one of three winners in the Stand Up and Get Heard competition, organised by the UK's leading publisher of audiobooks — AudioGO.

Skuse, 33, impressed competition judges with a two-minute recording of his 'outrageous' stand-up routine, which has been described as 'scatological' and 'Freudian'.

His prize will be a visit to the AudioGO studios in Bath, where he will follow in the footsteps of comedians such as Tim Vine, Al Murray and Lee Mack by getting the chance to professionally record his set.

Skuse, a freelance editor, says he never expected to win the competition as he only began doing stand-up at the start of 2013 — while living in Shanghai, China.

He said: 'The routine I entered to the AudioGO competition had been getting good feedback, and I had a recording of it from a recent show so I sent it in, but I really did not expect to win.

'I've barely been doing stand-up for half a year so I would in no way call it a career, nor would I even have the gall to call myself a "comedian".'

'I started out by doing open-mic while living in Shanghai, which has a small but dedicated stand-up scene. It was inspiring and daunting in equal measure, but I got up and it went reasonably well, and I've been plugging away ever since.'

AudioGO's Stand Up and Get Heard competition was launched in July to mark the audiobook publisher's sponsorship of the Pleasance Theatre during the Edinburgh Fringe festival, which ran throughout August. To enter, budding comedians had to submit an audio recording of up to two minutes in length of their best original stand-up routine.

The first prize was an all-expenses trip to Edinburgh to see a comedy show of their choice during the Edinburgh Festival, with the top three entrants all getting the opportunity to visit the AudioGO studios in Bath to have their act professionally recorded.

Skuse, who counts comedy heroes including Bill Hicks, Steve Coogan and Chris Morris among his influences, admits his comedy style is still evolving.

But he says he is enjoying honing his performance for its own sake, rather than in an attempt to make a full-time career out of comedy: 'I'm genuinely approaching it as an end in itself. I don't think I've developed a style yet but it's still early days, and part of the fun as you gain confidence is having the nerve to try different approaches.

'I would really like to increase the number of gigs I'm doing, pay my dues and do the grind that will hopefully let me develop my confidence, delivery and material.

'Being a runner-up in the Stand Up and Get Heard competition has been a really good confidence booster, and has given me an extra push to put more effort in to developing a solid routine.'

A spokesperson for AudioGO said: 'We had a wonderful response to the Stand Up and Get Heard competition and it was tough to whittle down the entries to just three winners, but Adam's comedy talent stood out from the crowd.

'AudioGO is proud to be the home of BBC radio comedy and we are delighted to give Adam an opportunity to record his material in our studios, which will hopefully prove a stepping stone to greater things in his comedy career.'