IT’S the comedy competition that has given a break to the likes of The Inbetweeners star Simon Bird, his Friday Night Dinner co-star Tom Rosenthal, Radio One’s TomDeacon and Chris Ramsey, star of BBC Two comedy Hebburn.

Now 22-year-old Cardiff University chemistry undergraduate Lewis Bowman is set to follow in their footsteps, after winning a place in the Chortle Student Comedy Award semifinal.

The aspiring stand-up, originally from Blackwood, won the heat at the University Of Glamorgan on March 14. He now goes on to a semi-final in either London or Manchester in May and a shot at the final at the Edinburgh Fringe.