A RISING comedy star has scooped a regional award at the Birmingham Comedy Festival.
By day he’s an estate agent, but by night Harv Hawkins spends his time writing content, booking gigs and travelling up and down the country to perform on stage.
The 24-year-old from Balsall Common won the Breaking Talent award after impressing judges with his confidence and original material exploring the appeal of certain childhood toys, traffic tailbacks and the housing market.
Not only did Harv face an enthusiastic crowd during the competition, he was also faced with amusing comedy greats including Jasper Carrott, Steve Bennett and BBC WM presenter Daz Hale.
Speaking to The Observer, Harv admitted he was never the funny guy at school – his passion for comedy being ignited at open microphone comedy nights.
He added: “I enjoyed listening to comedy and watching people perform, I regularly went to open microphone nights and that’s where my passion for comedy started.
“It took a while for me to pluck up the courage to get on stage but it was a bucket list thing for me – fortunately it’s led to this award.”
During the competition, the funny-man had to compete against five other comedians who were selected for the event by local comedy club promoters and professional comedians.
Harv puts his success down to the opportunities granted by local promoters – including Martin Huburn and Roger Swift and added that confidence in the industry helps massively.
He added: “I was overwhelmed to be selected as the winner.
“Getting gigs can be extremely tough so this award will go far in helping me to reach out to a larger audience.
“There’s so much competition out there, for example you could be applying for a ten minute slot at a comedy night in Manchester along with 40 other people.
“The accolade will hopefully stand out and ensure I can book more gigs in the future.”
Not only does Harv write his own content and perform it on stage, he also runs his own comedy club in Balsall Common on a quarterly basis.
The latest comedy club, which has sold out due to the growing demand, takes place this Friday (October 14) in the function room at the Royal British Legion.
The next one in the diary and with tickets available is Friday, December 16.
