Q: WHAT do you get if you cross a business consultant with an internet comedy television channel? A: Steve Rosier. The 38-year-old from St Neots could be heading for the Edinburgh Fringe Festival to test his comic abilities ... but only if he wins a compe

Q: WHAT do you get if you cross a business consultant with an internet comedy television channel? A: Steve Rosier.

The 38-year-old from St Neots could be heading for the Edinburgh Fringe Festival to test his comic abilities ... but only if he wins a competition final.

Steve, who works for CM Insight, has already made fantastic progress in Your Comedy Stars, a competition being run on an internet television station of the same name.

From the original 160 applicants, the judges had chosen eight finalists, including father of three Steve. The contestants have been using their best comic material to compete for votes from the public.

Steve, who has been writing comedy since heard his father's "hearty and sustained laugh" while watching a scene from Star Wars in 1977, has already been thrust into the limelight by the competition when he had to perform live last month at a London pub.

And today (Wednesday) he is due to perform in another competition called Star Search, at the Oxford pub in Kentish Town.

"Luckily, I got a lot of laughs. It is hard because the audience is so varied, you need to size up your audience first," he said.

"Some of the comedians weren't very good and looked uncomfortable but there was some great ones as well."

Although it was one of his first experiences on stage, he has worked behind the scenes and is writing for Radio Two's sketch show, The Powder Room.

But stand-up comedy is where he wants to be. "It's great, the buzz you get from a live audience, feeding off their laughter - I wish I had done it earlier.

"I enjoy all sorts of comedy, from slapstick to dark humour. I really enjoy Bill Hicks and, like him, include current affairs in my act."

To win the competition, Steve needs votes. Video clips of his comedy can be found on www.yourcomedystars.tv where you can cast your vote.

The winner will be revealed at the beginning of August and will perform at Edinburgh on August 23.

"The Fringe festival is all about exposure as there will be a lot of professional comedians and scouts there," he said.

"I am not bothered about the money - it's about being recognised and getting advice."

INFORMATION: The website www.yourcomedystars.tv contains strong language.

Funny business

STEVE'S jokes include:

Talking about nerves, when walking on stage I tell the audience, "I was thinking of something my mum used to say to me: 'Don't worry - they're more scared of you than you are of them'. Of course, that may just apply to spiders ..."

Heat magazine has a feature called 'Torso of the Week'? To me, that should be in a specialist magazine for serial killers.

I'm not saying that I like to drink, but I do have my own private parking space at the local bottle bank.

Everyone's looking for the Holy Grail all of a sudden. I suppose I should check inside my duvet cover. I always find stuff caught in there after a wash.