A comedian has been crowned the winner of a comedy festival after impressing the judges with his routine on clubbing in Essex.

Josh James, 28, from Ongar, entered the Fling Festival’s 'Essex Comedian of the Year 2019 Final' at Hylands Park, Chelmsford, on Saturday, July 6.

His jokes on nights out to Romford and his fiancé who is due to wed in November, gained the most laughs and a trophy for his efforts.

Speaking about his win, Mr James said: “I felt brilliant, I do a lot of gigs up and down the country so it was nice to have a gig close to home.

“I got a good reaction on the night and I think it pretty much come down to that, I always try to weave in a bit of a story with a beginning and an end so people can relate to me a little more.”

It was the first time the 28-year-old had entered the competition which was headlined by well-known comedians Lee Nelson and Carl Donnelly

Ongar comedian, who has been performing for five and half years, also has awards from the Comedy Store in London and has been runner-up at the Southend Comedy festival.

“I always wanted to do stand-up but it always seemed quite daunting, so when I was 23 I thought I have got to give it a go and I got the bug from there.”

His biggest gig to date is a show alongside Jack Whitehall and Lee Evan around six months ago.

Mr James said he hopes more comedy events will appear more across the county in the future to allow home-grown talent to have a home stage.

“I feel there should be more comedy in Essex there doesn’t seem to be much as there should be,” he said. “We produce some really funny people in Essex it just seems like there should be more going on here, maybe that will change one day.”

Mr James is due to perform his longest comedy set later this year - a 45-min show at the Camden Fringe.

When asked how he felt about the upcoming gig, Mr James said: “Usually I am on bills with other comedians while this show is just for people to come and me, there is a lot of pressure, but I am really looking forward to it.”

Josh James will perform at the Camden Fringe Festival on Wednesday, August and Thursday, August 8.

Limited tickets are still on sale at cam.tickets.red61.com/performances.php?eventId=3113:4968