In the 15th edition of the contest, Pelsor, 25, bested five other competitors Thursday night (May 1) for the title and $1,000 cash prize. A panel of judges rated performers on originality of material, stage presence and audience response.

The 2008 funniest professional is currently unemployed. He begins work next month at Fish Camp in South Portland, and plans to move to Boston at the end of the summer to pursue a career in stand-up comedy. Pelsor grew up in South Portland, attended South Portland High School for a year and graduated from Maranacook Community High School in Readfield. He holds a degree in social science from Flagler College, St. Augustine, Fla.

"I've wanted to do this since I was a little kid," said Pelsor, who made it to the finals of the contest four years ago, the first time he entered. Since then, he entered twice more, and got as far as the semifinals on one of those tries.

"My material is fairly dry. It's based on misdirection – trying to get people to make assumptions and then pulling the rug out and taking them in a different direction," he said.

He listed Bob Marley, George Hamm, Ellen DeGeneres and New York-based comic Mike Vecchione as his comedy idols.

The other contest finalists "were all great, amazing," he said. "But hopefully, I won because I had some good jokes. And I had a lot of supportive friends and family in the audience."

The finalists also included Bill Picard, 37, Lewiston, a motivational speaker; Ryan Waning, 31, Old Town, a stay-at-home dad and student; Dustin Beckelman, 24, Cumberland, house renovator; Rocco (Wayne MacDonald), 30, Portland, sales; and Christopher King, 34, Auburn, student. The weekly contest, open to anyone not a professional comic, began Feb. 21. Each week, a different panel of judges chose the best comics from among six to eight performers to advance in the competition. The last of the six finalists were chosen April 24.