Unlike the open mic night at your local pub, the Raw Comedy National Grand Final, ‘Australia’s biggest open mic comedy competition’, required talent??and there was talent aplenty! I admit that I had prepared myself for the occasional cough of polite appreciation and maybe even a few Englishman, Irishman and Scotsman jokes, but clearly I should have had more faith in today’s emerging comedians. 13 acts, whittled down from the seven-hundred or so who auditioned, hardly showed a skerrick of nervousness and genuinely made the audience laugh and applaud with appreciation. The encouragement from host Wil Anderson to make the performers feel extra welcome hardly seemed necessary as many commanded such a reaction themselves.

Sure, there was a fair amount of sexual innuendo, the seemingly obligatory imitation of a gay man and a couple of fine bogan impersonations. Refreshingly though, politics was not on the agenda. One act even used flash cards’quite a treat.

There could only be one winner though and this year’s champ was Hannah Gadsby from South Australia.

The show was truly a smorgasbord of the nation’s young comedic talents, with a side helping of the comedy stylings of Wil Anderson and Dave Callan, who himself won the first Raw Comedy Competition some 11 years ago. This was the perfect show for anyone wanting quick snippets of stand-up, the chance to get their face on the telly, and the ability to claim, in a few years time, that they were there before the winner was famous.