Do you like having a fun time and laughing until it hurts? Or are you down in the economic dumps and need some cheering up? Brilliant. In either case June’s double-whammy of the fantastic value Hyena Comedy Club at Harrogate Theatre is just the ticket.

Its first outing on Saturday 2 June features Yorkshireman and nationwide favourite Tom Wrigglesworth. The lanky Sheffielder has a fine line in shaggy dog stories, which he delivers with a beautiful turn of phrase and awhole bag of gags, and his non-threatening banter makes him an audience winner.

Wrigglesworth became a national have-a-go-hero when he rescued a little old lady from thejaws of Virgin train bureaucracy, only to be arrested for begging. His subsequent sell-out show, ‘Tom Wrigglesworth’s Open Return Letter to Richard Branson’, bagged him the Chortle award for best show 2010, and a nomination for the main Edinburgh Festival comedy gong. He’s recently been on air with his own Radio 4 series, Tom Wrigglesworth’s Open Letters, tackling consumer affairs in his inimitable hilarious way.

If you like your laughs a little more leftfield, then Aussie import Benny Boot will have you in tucks. Fast-paced, surreal and off-beat, Boot has a very individual take on life, which takes in his struggle with duvet covers to his explosive way with a mic stand. Brilliantly dark stand-up Carey Marx was also due to perform, but sadly he’s had a heart attack. He’s going to be okay after a bypass, and is handling it in his blackly humorous way. Get well soon Carey Marx – follow him on Twitter @CareyMarx. His replacement for the evening is Geordie chancer Dave Johns, on hand with some old-school smooth moves. Host with the most (and the beard) is Northern Ireland’s Martin Mor, aka Bigpig, who has a proven track record of getting audiences on side, up for anything and in stitches.

The Hyena Comedy Club is back on Saturday 30 June with another clowntastic line-up and a dollop of magic. Imagine a cross between Penn & Teller, a second hand car salesman and Alexei Sayle’s suit and you’ve got Pete Firman, a comic-magician with formidable skills in both arenas. His tricks are cheeky and his patter even more so. You may well have seen Firman on the telly – his most recent project, Dirty Tricks, is a studio magic show,with celebrity guests, ritual killing, swearing and blood. It was recently nominated for the variety award at The Rose d’Or Festival.

Lloyd Langford is a more laidback, more Welsh proposition. A dab hand at tight comic writing, Langford’s mellow demeanour belies a sharpedgy mind capable of pant-wettingly funny gags. Langford is a regular panellist on Ask Rhod Gilbert and has had his fingers in many TV pies such as Live at the Apollo, Never Mind the Buzzcocks and The King Is Dead. He has appeared on radio programmes such as The Jon Richardson Show (BBC 6 Music), The Now Show and The News Quiz (BBC Radio 4), and is at least one third ofcomedy collective ‘GIT’ with Dan Atkinson and Jon Richardson.

On this date professional Yorkshireman Ray Peacock plays host and is bound to get the audience nicely warmed up with his off-the–cuff humour, smashing banter and ability to embarrass even the stoutest heckler.

Tickets for these cracking nights out are available now at just £12, £10 concs, and canbe booked securely online at www.harrogatetheatre.co.uk  or through the Harrogate Box Office on 01423 502116.

By Andy on May 25, 2012