JACK Gleadow, a radio and television degree student from Hull, has won the 2017 New Comedian of the Year Final at the Great Yorkshire Fringe in York.

Gleadow took home the £750 cash prize on Monday after beating fellow Hull acts Tom King and Gina Jenkinson, who performs under the name Kelli Taylor; Mike Carter, from Liverpool; Edy Hurst, a Yorkshireman now living in Manchester; Anth Young, from Newcastle, and Manchester humorist James Harkness, whose preferred stage name is Dougie.

"This was possibly the best new act final I’ve ever seen," said Fringe director Martin Witts after the White Rose Rotunda contest. Fine praise indeed from the York-based comedy impresario who also runs the Leicester Square Theatre and Museum of Comedy in London.

Gleadow, 22, previously won the International Young Magician title in 2013 but gave up magic to concentrate on stand-up. Since then he has won the Hull Comedian of the Year and Hilarity Bites New Comedian of the Year competitions.

"Monday was a great night; everyone on the bill was good," says Gleadow, who is studying for a BA in radio and television in Manchester. "The £750 prize will get me to Edinburgh for the Fringe next week, so it couldn’t have come at a better time.

"These kind of contests are really hard to do: you only get five minutes and that’s how long it normally takes you to warm up an audience. You just have to treat it as a normal gig, stick to your material. I used some props and audience interaction, a real mixture; I’m a jack of all trades; you could call me a one-man variety show.”

Gleadow’s first gig was above a pub in Hull owned by a former member of The Beautiful South. “I had a fun gig and instantly got the bug but I didn’t quite have the Perfect 10 yet,” he recalls.

His main influences are Lee Evans, Lee Mack, Frank Skinner and Tim Vine. "They're all legends and so varied but ultimately naturally funny people, and I’m also a huge fan of Morecambe and Wise," he says. "I did magic till I was ten, then switched to comedy five years ago. I definitely want a career in comedy, either acting, presenting anything in the creative arts.”

Gleadow has a free regular podcast, My Favourite Year, on Soundcloud and Podomatic.