Comedian's TV hopes! (From Penarth Times)

Comedian's TV hopes!

8:54am Sunday 20th January 2008 in News By Phil Tibballs

A HIGH-FLYING Penarth businessman is hoping to make it big in stand-up comedy with the help of a new television series.

Frank Honeybone, of Plas Glen Rosa, commutes from Penarth to London to work in his day job as a corporate financial city investor.

But by night he makes people laugh with his own unique observational humour.

Now the city slicker is hoping to make it big on new BBC Two Wales series Funny Business - which searches for the country's best stand-up comic talent.

Frank said: "I've been on the stand-up tour for about two years now.

"But it's very difficult to go full time as a comic.

"I usually have to be quite structured in my day job, but when I'm on stage, I'm free.

"When I first started I'd often miss my bus stop because I was busy writing down ideas in a notebook.

"It's hard to say what my style is, I suppose you could call it anecdotal - I tend to just talk about my life.

"Hopefully this competition will open doors for someone and in doing so, give the Welsh comedy scene a huge lift."

The four-part series features promising comedians from across Wales all battling to win a £30,000 contract and the chance to tour the UK stand-up circuit to make their name.

Funny Business judge and comedy club owner Ian Franklin said: "There's a lot of comedy talent in Wales, the standard is outstanding.

"For Funny Business I'm looking for talent, but I'm also looking for someone who's passionate, someone who's hungry.

"They may have been doing stand-up for a while or they may be a performer in a different field.

"Or maybe they're working in another job and they've decided to give it a go - if we can find a comedian, we can fast track them through a lot of the process of turning professional."

* Funny Business this Monday (January 21) at 10pm on BBC Two Wales/2W.