Minister tops national comedy heat

A Baptist minister has stormed into the semi-final of the English Comedian of the Year

Allan Finnegan topped his heat at the Lyric Rooms, Ashby-De-La-Zouch, Leicestershire, which featured 12 acts in total.
 
The audience had to score each act after their performance and then pick their top three to move to the next stage of the competition. Allan, minister of Emmanuel Baptist Church in Netherton, received double the votes of the second placed act.
 
‘I entered with no expectation of getting through,’ he said. ‘My act is all about being a minister of a church and how bad I am at it.  

‘I thought it was a very good standard with some great acts in the heat and I'm very surprised and excited to have got through!’
 
Allan has been on the comedy circuit since training to be a Baptist minister, when as part of his training he was enrolled on a six-week course run by the Comedy Trust.  
 
‘I had no intention of ever doing comedy,’ he said. ‘I was just doing it to compare the differing skills between preaching and standup.’
 
But he found he had a knack for it and has continued ever since. Allan has previously reached the final of the New Comedian of the Year, and won a Liverpool Comedian of the Year award.

‘I really enjoy doing standup now and feel it has opened my up to a whole new audience.  
 
‘I'm hoping to break down some of the stereotypical images of ministers, but then again I'm not your stereotypical minister.  
 
‘Faith can be fun.'

Picture: Zoe Richards | Zoë Photography, Liverpool
 

The English Comedian of the Year receives a prize of £1500 and a two month tour in Australia for a comedy festival.