DANIEL Triscott, the Cornish comedian who has made York his home, will host his first comedy gig of the New Year at the Duke of York in Kings Square on January 19.

Taking part in the 8pm bill will be Adam Blaize, Jake Donaldson, Julie Grady Thomas and Mary O'Connell before a headline spot by the Imp Queens sketch duo.

The Duke's Comedy Night is a monthly new act/new material night held at the Duke of York pub on the third Tuesday of each month with no admission charge. "January's show will be the sixth night we've held, and of the five so far, three of the nights were fairly good gigs and the other two stood out as being truly brilliant nights enjoyed by all," says Daniel, looking back on his first series of gigs.

"Audience members have been very complimentary in person after the gigs and have left five-star reviews on the Facebook page, while all the comedians have said how enjoyable and appealing the gig has been for them to try out new material or just to do an incredibly warm and friendly gig."

Daniel initially held his comedy nights on the first Thursday of the month. "But this has been changed to Tuesdays in the hope of getting more people at the gigs, which appears to have worked rather well."

December will be a blank month for practical reasons. "The Duke of York does far too much business being an actual pub during this month and thus it isn't worth us competing with a busy pub in a tiny room," says Daniel.

His rationale behind establishing The Duke's Comedy Night was a desire to create "a regular comedy night in York that was free for people to see and would showcase the talented individuals that I know on the open-mic circuit around the north". "I also enjoyed the idea of setting up a comedy night the way in which I would want comedy nights to be run," he says.

"Knowing how easy it is to get one going, I felt compelled to give it a go. For me, I wouldn't want to set up a comedy night that took up too much of people's time and felt like a drag. I like nights that are short and sweet and don't make people feel like they've got to sit through too much comedy. That's why I specifically have five acts on the bill, all of which I happily let do anywhere between ten to 15 minutes of material.

Daniel notes that by comparison with Leeds, Manchester and Liverpool, York does not have many comedy nights of this type. "So I think this is an important thing to put on, as it showcases talent that's local to York and the surrounding areas, plus it proves that York is capable of hosting these sort of events successfully," he says.

"Even though our venue is a small room, which can really only hold about 25 to 30 people, that's exactly the sort of thing that I like. The scenario for a well-presented gig where a small group of people are clearly there for a comedy night, in my opinion, makes it all the more personal, intimate and conducive to comedy, which ultimately means that people will enjoy it more."

Daniel is fastidious in his organisation and presentation of each show. "I'm very meticulous about every little detail, to the point where I make sure the chairs are set up just the way I'd like," he says. "I have classical music playing during the interval to set the mood and have the lights dim so people can really sink into the atmosphere.

"Each night 'starts' at 8pm, but this is really to say that the doors open at 8pm, and typically the gig properly starts anywhere between quarter past to half past 8pm. The format is that I compere the gig so I introduce the night as a whole and the acts individually as they come on, as well as keeping on top of admin and making sure everyone there is enjoying themselves.

The night is set out into two halves with two acts in the first, followed by a 20-minute break, then three more acts, concluding at 10.30pm. For updates, visit @TheComedyDuke

Anyone interested in doing an open spot at The Duke's Comedy Night should send an email to danieltriscott@gmail.com