BEFORE the Great Yorkshire Fringe kicks off in July in York, the festival organisers will present two nights of comedy in the coming week.

Andy Hamilton's Change Management show on Tuesday will be followed by Susan Calman: The Calman Before The Storm on Friday, and in a change of venue, the 7.30pm gigs will be staged at the Tempest Anderson Hall, Yorkshire Museum, rather than the Central Methodist Church.

News of that switch came too late for The Press interview with Andy Hamilton, co-creator and writer of BBC1's Outnumbered, BBC Films' What We Did On Our Holiday and Channel 4's Ballot Monkeys and Drop The Dead Donkey.

Nevertheless, he might be delighted, given his initial reaction to discovering he would be performing in a church building. "It's always slightly weird being in a church because I spend so much time playing Satan on the radio," says the star, writer and director of Old Harry's Games, the BBC Radio 4 series in which he voices the weary, cynical Satan. "But if I was going to be struck down, it would have happened by now. I'm not going to lose any sleep over it."

In his 62 years on this planet, Londoner Andy has experienced many changes. "For instance, I was once a 6’4” tall professional basketball player, until a tree fell on me," says the diminutive comedian, game show panellist, television director, comedy screenwriter, radio dramatist and novelist.

York Press:

Andy Hamilton: show contains mild peril

"But, of course, change is an inescapable part of the human condition. Why? Is that fair? Some changes are good, some bad. Why can’t they be more clearly labelled? How did we end up working longer hours? Where did all the sparrows go? If you’re feeling flustered because of flux, I'll teach you how to cope with the changes we've seen and the changes yet to come."

In a show that carries the warning "Contains mild peril", Andy primarily will address social change. "I did the show in 2015 and a little bit last year, which of course was a year of phenomenal change, and that's now continued into 2017, and I'll be reflecting on that," he says.

"It's going to be an evening of me telling funny stories from my life, other people's lives, and about how we've changed, and I usually ask the audience to leave me questions in the interval to answer on the subject of change."

Not everything changes: Andy always receives a warm welcome in Yorkshire. "Audiences there tend to be very friendly and not like the Yorkshire stereotype at all," he says. "I've never found them dour or slow to praise."

Tickets are on sale at £20 for Hamilton, £16 for Calman, at greatyorkshirefringe.ticketsolve.com. The Great Yorkshire Fringe will run from July 21 to Aigust 6.