Walking onto the stage with jewellry and a swagger, Gareth Berliner was instantly recognisable as a London lad and looked as though he's probably out clubbing it when he's not telling jokes, unless he tells jokes while clubbing, but let's not get into that.

That image might have done little to endear him to the northern crowd, at the final of the York Comedy Festival's National Talent Hunt 2003, but, if it was ever a problem, some good gags and even some "groaner" puns that you'd hate to admit you laughed at (but would probably use at work the next day) soon made up for it.

While some of his material, such as showing the audience the notes for his set which just said "be funny", has been done before by other acts, he also had some strong material of his own with some gag's about suicide bombers being the highlight.

This however led to his true story about how at one time he had to be hooked up to tubes feeding fluid to his heart from a rucksack and a funny incident on a place that arose from it.  While the jokes were still strong, knowing this somehow made it harder to laugh at his misfortune and instead made us feel sorry for him.  We wanted to buy him a drink rather than laugh at him.

Berliner certainly has the potential to go a long way, but when his material involves telling stories of the funny things that have happened to him perhaps he needs to avoid a level of detail that attracts too much sympathy?

(Harkers, York - Saturday 28/06/2003 - York Comedy Festival - National Talent Hunt FINAL.  Click here for more details on the 2003 York Comedy Festival )