"When I heard that BBC Wales were planning a series to seek out potential new comedy talent in the region my interest was piqued, since I have always been a self-confessed humour addict.

This passion for comedy in all of it's forms and being a fan of attending live stand-up comedy gigs even led to me being short-listed for the Edinburgh Festival Perrier/IF.Comeddies Awards in 2006, as a panel Judge selected from members of the public.

Unfortunately, there has never been much of a live comedy scene in Wales, and even more so in Mid-Wales, with the main entertainment venues in the area usually only attracting established well-known acts at sometimes exorbitant prices.

In fact, when I went to London to be interviewed about being an Edinburgh Festival judge for the comedy awards the interviewers were quite surprised as to how many comedy gigs and quite obscure performers that I had seen despite living in an area that is relatively untouched by the comedy circuit, and they were shocked at how high the ticket prices were in comparison to London.

Luckily, there have been a few regular venues for live comedy popping up around Wales the past couple of years that not only support local upcoming talent, but feature acts that can be seen at comedy clubs around the UK, but in more intimate surroundings at a far cheaper price.

Welsh audiences have also been cited by many comedians to be the best in the UK and perhaps a factor involved in this is that the crowds are usually far more appreciative than a rowdy corporate London club where it is possible to witness a comedy night every night of the week.

Perhaps, just as important is that a local comedy circuit should exist in Wales for aspiring comedians to learn their craft at open mic nights and gigs that are closer to home rather than travelling to London, Birmingham or Manchester to take part in a "Gong Show" type event where they can be eliminated by a baying audience of unsympathetic drunks in mere seconds.

Such facts had obviously been considered by Dai4Films, the Mid-Wales based TV production company behind the four-part prime time BBC Wales documentary series "Funny Business", who also filmed the documentary 'Raw Spice' that first discovered The Spice Girls before they hit the big time, and became household names.

After realising that there was a funny bone in Wales, which was still live and laughing, they set out searching the length and breadth of Wales to discover potential comedy talent.

Sadly, but understandably it seems that for a generation there has been a severe lack of Welsh comedians, since the days of Max Boyce, Owen Money and the Workingmen's Club circuit, which faded with the demise of the Steel and Coal industries.

However, many people forget, or don't even realise that Wales is responsible for comedy talent such as Keith Allen, Peter Baynham, Rob Brydon, Wyn Calvin, Tommy Cooper, Terry Jones, Helen Lederer, Griff Rhys Jones, Harry Secombe, John Sparkes, Stan Stennett, Dawn French, Paul Whitehouse, Ryan Davies & Ronnie Williams to name just a few!

In the past few years, there seems to have been a welcome resurgence in Welsh comedians starting to make a name for themselves around the UK and abroad.

Although, perhaps they still might not be too well known in their own home country as of yet, they are certainly ones to watch in the near future.

TV presenter Chris Corcoran started his media career doing stand-up, and the likes of Wes Packer, Lloyd Langford, and Rhod Gilbert are much acclaimed on the comedy circuit after winning numerous awards.

Despite, a shortage of venues in Wales for up and coming comedians to ply their trade and learn their craft, it turns out that our little country is just bursting with lots of the possible next big comedy stars who are just looking for a lucky break.

Comedy Club owner Ian Franklin, who has venues across Europe stretching from Belfast to Prague spotted a gap in the market in Wales, and wanted to find out how many people this side of the Severn Bridge had the makings of a professional stand-up.

Adverts were placed in newspapers and the challenge was issued to anyone who thought that they could be funny and more importantly have the nerve, to give it a go.

Ian and top stand-up comic Rudi Lickwood searched across the whole of Wales for talent, and were very impressed by the standard of performance and comedy writing that they had seen.

It seemed, there was after all, a rich vein of comedy talent in Wales, just waiting for the opportunity, and with an offer of a £30,000 contract for the winning Welsh comedian, the pressure was on.

The applicants who were successful at the "Funny Business" 5 minute auditions in Wrexham, Swansea and Cardiff went on to perform an "Open Spot" 10 minute gig at the Semi-Finals, and were eventually whittled down to six of the best, having to perform for 15 minutes in the final at The Point in Cardiff.

It was with some trepidation that I filled in an application form for the "Funny Business" competition, as although I personally knew a few comedians, from those who were professional full-time working acts with their own TV series, and those who had only recently just started the journey into discovering the world of stand-up comedy themselves, it was an entirely different matter thinking that perhaps I could actually do it myself.

Despite having no real past experience of being on stage and acting or performing since being in a primary school nativity, I decided to give it a go.

My nearest attempt to finding out for myself whether I could actually do something similar to this was inadvertently ending up 'headlining' an "Open Mic Night" at the inaugural Hay-on-Wye Fringe Festival, with an impromptu ten-minute appearance after dozens of poets and folk music acts had gone before me.

Although, there were supposed to be at least another half-a-dozen 'comedians' making an appearance during the evening, they all suddenly decided to drop out at the very last minute, and for those who have ever actually ventured to attempt such as thing as standing in front of a group of complete strangers themselves and trying to make them laugh constantly for five or ten minutes or so, sometimes you really do wonder why on earth you are putting yourself (and possibly themselves!) through the whole experience in the first place.

After this initial try-out at doing stand-up comedy, which was pretty much as a direct result from a challenge issued by some friends to give it a go (although, none of them have actually seen me perform live as of yet!) my next gig was the audition at the Café Mambo in Swansea for the Funny Business competition.

The pressure was on to not look like too much of an idiot in front of more complete strangers, comedian friends and possible peers on the Welsh Comedy scene, and in front of the television cameras/general public.

The whole experience of my second gig is still a bit of a blur, but somehow it seemed to go down well with the audience, judges and the other acts, which resulted in me gaining a place in the semi-finals of the competition.

Each of us taking part were debriefed and given advice afterwards by the judges, and I was extremely surprised by their positive reaction and encouragement towards my somewhat embryonic and experimental performance style.

Since this was something that I had not actually done before, I fully expected to be admonished and ridiculed in some sort of 'X Factor" type of reality TV show humiliation scenario rather than receiving a warm welcome, constructive criticism, and being informed that not only was I trying to do something that none of the other acts had shown them, but I also had the potential to possibly win the competition!

You might wonder whether I actually managed to get any further and actually win the competition? Well, you will just have to watch the series to findthat out!

My current stage act as Johnny Nigma, has a distinctive Welsh flavour, the persona of a "bumbling magician", with eclectic material and the use of eccentric props. It has already drawn comparisons with the likes of Tommy Cooper, Harry Hill and Joe Pasquale, and now I am probably the first, last and only person to do jokes on television about chickens in the Klingon language, as well as performing the infamous pulling a hat out of a rabbit trick, along with a variety of cheese based magical illusions that usually have to be done "Caerphilly"!

After almost a year in the making, over 150 hours of film was edited down to four half-hour programmes, and the documentary series about the competition and the Welsh comedy scene is shown on BBC2 in January 2008, followed by a specially commissioned extra series "Funny Business XXX" featuring previously unseen and specially recorded clips a month after the original broadcast.

A highlight of the series is the spoof music video for the "St. Deadends Rap" by comedian Jeff Baker, in which I make an appearance as an "Ali G" type character.

Since the competition, the winners have been followed around the UK by the production company in order to see how their comedy careers have being doing., but hopefully it doesn't end there as Neil Davies and Colin Gotts from the production company Dai4Films decided that they had discovered enough talent to organise comedy workshops with professional comedians and writers to come and work with some of the participants at St David's Hotel in Cardiff Bay, who offered to sponsor the workshops which have been running since last July.

After discovering that the talent was there, but there weren't enough venues in Wales for prospective comedians to hone their craft, the comedy workshops have resulted in developing some exciting comedy projects for radio and TV, as well as helping get some more Welsh comedians onto the UK comedy circuit.

Last year, as one of the organisers of the inaugural Welsh Comedy Festival set up to raise lots of laughs around Wales, and much needed funds in aid of the charity Ty Hafan - The Children's Hospice In Wales

I provided advice and assistance with the promotional campaign and publicity marketing the event, as well as performing on the final night of the festival.

The week long event showcased some of the best current UK acts as well as local upcoming talent, and visited various venues usually left off the comedy map by comedians on the regular touring circuit of comedy clubs.

As part of a promotional tour around Wales to preview the festival, a successful sell-out comedy night was held at the Hay Fringe Festival last year, courtesy of the Confederacy of Comedians (a diverse collective of comedians and anyone else who wants to be involved in helping to support the comedy scene in Wales), featuring the winner, finalists and others featured in the 'Funny Business' programme.

It is hoped to return to the Hay Fringe Festival again this year with more comedy events, and to run workshops to help and encourage others to get involved with the burgeoning comedy scene in Wales.

At the moment, I am continuing to develop as wide a range of skills and experience on the comedy circuit as possible, and am currently working on new characters and material for my stand-up act, as well as developing various script proposals for radio and TV.

Some useful links connected to the Funny Business TV series and stand-up comedy in Wales. "

Article written by Johnny Nigma