A stand-up comic from the North-East is aiming to make a mark on the world of comedy with his observations about life in Saltaire.

Mark Rough has reached the regional finals stage of the Hooch Open Mike Awards, which is run by the London-based Comedy Store, after entering the contest on a whim.

The 33-year-old former musician, who lives at Riverside Court, Saltaire, auditioned for the place along with 15 other hopefuls from Yorkshire and was one of just four selected.

The training and development consultant is now preparing to put his four-minute routine to the test in front of a live audience, clapometer and panel of judges when the Comedy Store comes to Bradford's St George's Hall next Friday.

The winner will be asked to perform at the Comedy Store - which has produced a clutch of top comedians including Ben Elton, Jack Dee and Lee Hurst - in March with the eventual national champion picking up a cool £5,000.

Mark, who hails from Sunderland but who has lived in the Bradford district for four years, said: "The Comedy Store's massively famous so to get an opportunity to play there, work with the professionals and make contacts with some of the agents would be great.

"A lot of the material for my routine's based on me being an outsider from the North-east but living in Bradford and Yorkshire, which is a bit of a culture shock. It's basically a monologue with jokes built into the stories about how posh Saltaire is and all the arty people who've moved in and are now rubbing shoulders with the old mill folks.''

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