Alasdair Beckett-King has been named Leicester Mercury Comedian of the Year 2017.

The comedian has previously been placed in many finals, and won the New Act of the Year (formerly Hackney Empire) competition in 2014. He has also featured BBC radio as a comedian and sketch writer and performed stand-up across the UK, in the Glastonbury Cabaret Tent and at the Edinburgh Fringe. His biography also states: "He knows quite a lot about 19th Century magicians. Tourists often ask to have their photo taken with him, presumably impressed by this."

The highly-respected competition is held each year as part of the city of Leicester's comedy festival, sponsored by local newspaper the Leicester Mercury.

Selected by "top comedy promoters from across the UK", the eight finalists each performed their best seven minutes of material in front of a sold-out audience on Saturday night, including a panel of judges from across the comedy industry, who picked Beckett-King as the winner.

Now in its 23rd year, the competition's past victors include Romesh Ranganathan (2013), Josh Widdicombe (2010), Rhod Gilbert (2003), Jason Manford (2000) and Johnny Vegas (1997).

This year's judging panel consisted of Charlotte Lang (Glastonbury Festival); George Oliver (Leicester Mercury); Steve North (UKTV); Andy Hollingworth (photographer); and Ryan Taylor (Pleasance Theatre).

In the following clip in which he pays tribute to the other finalists, Alasdair says he was surprised to win:

Below is a video of highlights from the final, including host Carly Smallman announcing the winner:

Other Finalists

The other nominated finalists and their supplied biographies are as follows.

Alex Mahoney
Alex Mahoney is a stand-up comedian from the Valleys. Alex Mahoney is not a stand-up comedian. Alex Mahoney works full-time in a mattress warehouse and has approximately fifteen minutes of material. Alex Mahoney would like to be a stand-up comedian. Alex Mahoney is from the Valleys and would like to be a stand-up comedian.

Ed Night
Ed Night is an actor, writer, and award-winning stand-up comic and filmmaker. A finalist in So You Think You're Funny? 2015, he recently won an award at the BFI for Ain't Nothin But: London and the Blues, a documentary that he co-made, and he has also written for Newsjack (Radio 4 Extra). Ed has also appeared frequently on television in his other capacity as a singer, on Last Choir Standing and as a soloist on Songs of Praise.

George Rigden
Having excelled in a host of new act competitions, George Rigden made his Edinburgh debut in 2015 when he performed as part of the prestigious AAA Stand Up Late showcase at the Pleasance Courtyard for a full sell-out run. He is known for his dark musical comedy, for which he received critical acclaim for his set at the Leicester Comedy Festival Gala Preview Show 2016.

Kelly Convey
Kelly Convey burst onto the live comedy scene last year, reaching the finals of So You Think You're Funny?; the semi-finals of Funny Women and Leicester Square New Comedian; and achieving runner-up at Hastings Fringe New Comedian. An experienced writer, presenter, photographer and videographer, she has a strong social media following and is currently co-writing a sitcom.

Sindhu Vee
The Vee stands for Venkatanarayanan. That's six As. Count them. Banker turned comedian Sindu is a high achiever, having studied at Oxford University and started up an ethical fashion site. Now she's turning her hand to comedy, and has already achieved semi-finalist in the Funny Women new act competition.

Tom Houghton
Already known to comedy fans as a former member of the UK's premier improv comedy troupe The Noise Next Door, Tom Houghton's solo material consists of hilarious observations, ridiculous musical moments and shocking over share. As part of The Noise Next Door, he has appeared on BBC One, BBC Three, ITV, BBC Radio 1 and BBC Radio 4.

Tom Mayhew
Tom started gigging regularly in 2014, and quickly found that his public displays of social awkwardness were well-received by audiences across the country. He won the Comedy Store King Gong in May 2016, and was a semi-finalist at the Amused Moose Laugh Off 2016, Leicester Square New Comedian of the Year 2015, and the Laughing Horse New Act of the Year 2014.