New Act of the Year winner: Hackney’s Patrick Cahill

A stand up comedian from Stoke Newington has walked away with a prestigious comedy award after delivering a hilarious monologue dwelling on dog poo and head lice on Sunday night.

With his trademark microphone holder crafted out of a coathanger, Patrick Cahill beat off 13 other hopefuls to be crowned the New Act of the Year.

Patrick, who lives in Defoe Road, now has high hopes of hitting the big time, as the showcase which has been running for 30 years has helped establish the likes of Alistair McGowan, Harry Hill, Russell Brand, Eddie Izzard and Matt Lucas in the industry.

Patrick, a model maker for operatic set designers would love to eventually give up his day job.

“People are already ringing me up, rather than me pestering them,” he joked.

“To be thinking about comedy full time, that would be ridiculously good.”

His material ranges from how you can’t live for the moment for 25 years because it’s not a moment, it’s a long time, to a summation of drinking strategy, starting with the rhyme “beer before wine is fine,” and ending up in a ridiculous state of drunken non-rhyme, to a “bird within a bird” recipe inspired by a Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall, starting with a turkey and finishing with a head louse.

“It’s about taking ideas off into nonsense and extending them and extending them until they just become daft,” explained Patrick.

“I come up with a half formed idea and work on it for a bit and if won’t work I’ll put it away, eventually I find a way of getting it out there, I’m always writing as much as I can but it just takes time to get it right and polish it,” he said.

“If it makes you laugh in your bathroom or shower, you realised it’s all slotted into place - that’s exciting.

“Then when you go and test it out if it works that’s nice - for one it reassures you that you’re not mad and you don’t have a completely obscure sense of humour.”