SPRING has sprung, lambs are leaping, joy is in the air until May 7, and York has another new comedy club cracking its first gag on Monday night.

Welcome to Stand Up And Be Social, so called because promoter Maxie Wade will be focusing on stand-up at the Fossgate Social, the Fossgate bar, coffee and cake house that already presents exhibitions and acoustic music nights.

Maxie, 23, moved to York from Leeds in January, for matters of the heart as well as art, as she and York comedian James Christopher are a couple both on and off stage.

“What brought me to York? James Christopher! We met; we fell in love; he asked me to move in; he’s gorgeous, so I did,” says Maxie, whose comedy rhythm is one of short bursts.

They perform individually, or together, such as two nights ago at Al Greaves’s Burning Duck Comedy Club in their challenging new double act, The Walk Out Show.

Whereas they will “go to extraordinary lengths to ensure that you cannot endure The Walk Out Show”, actively urging you to do what the title says, Maxie will be encouraging you to walk in to the Fossgate Social on the first and third Monday of each month...and stay!

“Entry is from 8pm, we start at 8.30pm and it’s free! We’re running fortnightly and we’ll be York’s only free comedy night,” says Maxie. “It’s an open-mic, new material night and I’ve arranged an all-York first night with Simon D Heaven, Phillip Smith, Seb Bloomsfield, Steph Heald, Daniel Triscott and James Christopher.”

Maxie will host the shows. “We’ll hold the gigs in front of the fireplace, so it’ll be an intimate night,” she says. “When it’s intimate, it works a lot better; you take risks as a performer and comics tend to relax more, so Fossgate Social is a good place to try out material.

“There’s not a lot of new material nights around here; there’s Verve in Leeds, which James [Christopher] runs, but that’s about it, which is why I’m starting this club.”

The Verve Comedy Cellar, in Merrion Street, gave Maxie the opportunity to break her comedy duck. “It was an open-mic night last July,” she says. “I remember I was so nervous that I had about 40 cigarettes and nothing to eat. I was pacing up and down, changing my set right up to the last minute...”

How did it go? “It went really well! I did about ten minutes and it all flowed as I wanted. Afterwards, I got people coming up and saying ‘that was really confident for a first gig’. So I went up to the Edinburgh Fringe, did a few open spots, and here we are now!”

She is keen to establish Stand Up And Be Social in the way that the Verve open-mic nights have caught on in Leeds. “This will be the first comedy night at the Fossgate Social, where they already have an acoustic night on Wednesdays, where someone did a bit of stand-up, so the bar wanted some more comedy and I’ve taken that opportunity,” says Maxie. “I just hope that people come because it’s good to take a chance on seeing a new comedian, just as they’ll take a chance on a new musician they’ve never heard of before.

“I want that to be the same with comedy, so that new performers have a chance to cut their teeth, try new things, experiment. It doesn’t cost you anything to come, so come on down.”

Maxie, who is to take up a post at York Hospital now that she has moved to York, will combine her working life with her comedy career, which began when she took part in sixth-form talent nights at Intake High School, Bramley.

“I now do anecdotes and stories from my life, things that have happened to me,” she says. “I’m a more extreme version of myself on stage and my material can be quite dark.

“I also have a character act I do: Mercy Steel, who’s a redneck popstar from America; she’s like a Britney Spears or Miley Cyrus gone really wrong!”

Will you be showing Mercy in York, Maxie? “It’s a secret when she’ll be here,” she says. “It depends on what mood I’m in. It’s more of a tense experience and the punchline is the least tension in the act.”

Maxie is hoping that Stand Up And Be Social will run and run, just as she will be doing this month. “I did the Paris Marathon on Sunday and I’ll be running the London Marathon April 26, both in aid of Leeds Mind,” she says.