YORK is becoming a joke city. Another week, another new comedy club is to open in Yorkshire’s capital of comedy, this time Captain’s Comedy Club at The Black Swan Inn, former home to James Christopher’s Black Comedy @ The Black Swan.

Initially details were sketchy: the briefest of emails arrived at York Twenty4Seven HQ on Tuesday afternoon from someone simply calling himself “Jack”.

“To whom is my concern (sic),” it read. “Next week a new comedy club, ran by my friend and I, starts in York. It’s Captain’s Comedy Club @ The Black Swan, Tuesday 20th October, Ed Gamble & Danny Degan plus support. 8.15 doors. Entry £4/3 (NUS).”

Delving deeper to discover why more and more names are clambering on to York’s ladder of laughter, we made contact with Jack, who turns out to be one Jack Cooper.

“We are very aware and involved in the excellent comedy scene in York and are good friends with James Christopher at 1331, Tony Basnett at Trapdoor, Jamie Simcox at Qwerty and Toby Clouston-Jones at Hyena Lounge. We all help each other out with act recommendations and attend each other’s gigs,” says Jack, who will co-compere shows with partner in comedy Lee Morris.

“Where Captain’s Comedy Club will differ is that we hope to emulate the anarchic feel and tone of 80s original alternative clubs, such as Alexei Sayle’s Comedy Store.

“The evening will have an extremely loose and informal atmosphere, and we’ll be encouraging our acts to improvise and try new material.”

Tuesday’s bill will feature not only opening act Danny Degan and headliner Ed Gamble but also the aforementioned James Christopher, poet Delia Sparce and the runner-up in the 2009 Student Comedy Awards, Jez Scharf.

James Christopher’s presence on Tuesday is testament to the blossoming bond between promoters.

“I think it’s great that we’re all working together and creating such a vibrant scene,” says Jack. “Because of this, York is becoming a favourite place for many alternative comics and that means we often get big names at Hyena Lounge and now 1331, despite the fact they’re small venues, as audiences in York are generally considered to be great for testing new material outside of London.”

Earlier this week, the Trapdoor Comedy Club opened for the first time at The Golden Fleece in Pavement, filling the gap left by the closure of Christopher’s Comedy Gold @The Golden Fleece. Again, advance information was minimal; we chanced on a poster across the road announcing that the new club will “bring you some of our favourite acts on the circuit” on the second and fourth Tuesday of each month, no starting time given, alas.

George Cottier was first into the spotlight three nights ago, to be followed by Chris Martin on October 27, Sean McLoughlin on November 10, Richard Brophy on November 24 and Andy Watson on December 8.

James Christopher, meanwhile, will concentrate his York enterprises on 1331 Comedy at Bar 1331 while hanging his promoter’s hat in Yorkshire venues further afield.

Sadly, despite their popularity, Comedy Nights at the Theatre Royal are to be phased out after this autumn. However, each Sunday’s Hyena Lounge and two new autumn additions, the monthly Qwerty Comedy Sketch Nights at City Screen and The Comedy Club’s fish-and-quips evenings at the Loch Fyne restaurant on October 26 and November 23, are all contributing to York’s cornucopia of comedy, while the Grand Opera House continues to pull the big names.

Still to come there this season are Julian Clary on Wednesday, Joe Pasquale on October 26, Stephen K Amos on October 29 and Grumpy Old Women Live 2 on November 29 and, looking ahead to next year, the even grumpier Frankie Boyle has sold out his May 13 gig already.

All this is evidence indeed that laughter really is the best medicine to counter the recession blues.