Funnyman James Murgatroyd hopes to stub out the opposition in a prestigious national competition.

He has won through to the final of Damage, a contest geared towards showcasing the best of Britain's young comics.

James, 28, who lives in Fagley, will be up against nine other rising stars in the national final at London's famous Comedy Store tomorrow.

The twist is that all the performers have to include material about cigarettes in their act because the competition is sponsored by the Health Education Authority and is part of a smoking awareness initiative.

"You do a five-minute spot and of that you have to include at least ten per cent on smoking," he said. "I decided to do the majority of mine about smoking because, rather than doing gags, I tend to do stories anyway."

James, a former pupil of St Bede's School in Heaton, won his spot at the Comedy Store by impressing the judges at the regional final held at the Bonding Warehouse in York.

"I actually only came second but, fantastic, afterwards one of the organisers said he really liked my material and wanted to create an extra space at the final," he said.

James has only been doing stand-up for six months.

"My first ever show was in June at the Fnrr Fnrr Club at Fanny's in Saltaire," he said.

"My ambition was to play at the Comedy Store so it's not bad to achieve that so quickly."

He has played about a dozen gigs around Yorkshire. "Les Dawson used to say that in Barnsley they don't clap, they let you live. But I went down well when I played there," he said.

First prize tomorrow is the chance to do a paid gig at the Comedy Store, which could open doors to an up-and-coming comedian.

James, a corporate investment officer for Bradford Council, enjoys the contrast with his working life.

"There's no feeling like standing up in front of 200 people and making them laugh at something you've thought up."

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.