FOR those up for a really good chuckle courtesy of some of the top laughter makers on the comedy circuit, pop across to Dalton tomorrow night where Sam Hughes and his Laughing Penguin Events have put together a hilarious bill of stand-up for a Christmas special at the town’s Newton Arms.

Opening proceedings will be Mark Nelson. Since winning the inaugural Scottish Comedian of the Year Award in 2006, Mark’s mix of dark humour, cutting observations and superb one-liners has seen him firmly established as one of the UK’s biggest-hitting comedy powerhouses.

With a likeable manner on stage belying some of the stronger content, apparently he often has audiences laughing at things they know they really shouldn’t be laughing at. An MA degree in politics from Glasgow University supports his brilliantly topical writing and, although his stand-up is certainly not for the easily offended, the material is intelligent and well conceived and supported by a very confident delivery. A sought-after comedian and writer, Mark has sold out his hour-long shows at nine Glasgow International Comedy Festivals and has also performed six hugely successful seasons at the Edinburgh Fringe.

Mark’s excellent writing skills are also being recognised. His debut radio series Mark Nelson’s Guide To Marriage was broadcast in December 2013 and won the Scottish Comedy Awards Radio prize. He also supplied material for Jason Manford’s A Funny Old Week, three series of Russell Howard’s Good News. Mark also wrote and performed sketches, topical stand-up and co-hosted BBC Scotland’s 2014 Commonwealth Games satirical comedy series Don’t Drop The Baton.

In 2016, Mark created a series of online clips, The News At 2, for BBC Scotland’s Short Stuff strand and co-starring his two-year-old daughter. Featuring topics such as Global Warming, Donald Trump, and the Economy, the clips went viral and he was commissioned to make more, starting with one on the Brexit turmoil. Now rebranded The News At 3, he released several more in 2017 with a number of them, including the hilarious Valentine’s Day, again going viral with views in the many millions. Another subsequent clip released in time for Easter surpassed 90 million views alone. The popularity of these clips saw News At 3 being mentioned in the Scottish Parliament as part of the discussion about a new BBC in Scotland and was picked up by the BBC’s One Show, in the process of becoming the biggest social media phenomenon in the BBC’s history with audience engagement exceeding 130 million views.

MC for the night will be Harry Stachini, who started performing comedy after attending a Hot Water Comedy course at the age of 18 in 2013 and since then was named in the top three of the Southport New Comedian of the Year competition in 2014. Harry is beginning to establish himself as a strong new act on the comedy circuit with his easy-going style along with his likeable character just adds to the brilliance of the stories and the unexpected one-liners that has crowds in stitches.

Other acts on Friday include Howard Anstock, Stuart Smith and headliner, Jamie Hutchinson, regarded by many as one of the most exciting and promising acts around. He’s landed a bucket load of awards, including XSManchester Comedian Of The Year 2017 and Hot Water Comedian of the Year.

Tickets are available on from TicketSource.

The comedy night opens at 8pm and finishes at 10.30pm with the bar closing at midnight.