ROBIN Ince’s Bleeding Heart Liberal show on Sunday leads off a new strand of solo nights at the Hyena Lounge Comedy Club in The Basement at City Screen, York.

“The big new thing this year is the slightly different tack we’re taking,” says promoter Toby Clouston-Jones. “If you look at the first part of the season, half the shows will be solo tour dates, where the longer sets have much more of a narrative arc.

“There’s been more interest from agents for the artists to do the Hyena Lounge as part of a tour, as most of the acts have played here before and really enjoyed the space and they know it will lend itself to the concentration needed for a 75-minute set.

“For Rhod Gilbert, for example, this will be by far the smallest date on his tour – in his home town of Cardiff, he’s already added a second and third night because he’s now so popular.”

Gilbert will perform his Award Winning Mince Pie show on February 15; Russell Kane’s tales of growing up in Essex are booked for February 22; Josie Long will mull over the planets on March 1; and Richard Herring will reflect on the consequences of being the son of a private school headmaster on March 15.

Further shows are lined up for Mickey Flannigan on March 29; new London sketch foursome Pappy’s Fun Club, April 5, and Ivan Brackenberry, May 31.

“The other factor in the rise of the solo show here has been our Edinburgh preview nights of double headliners in June and July, where I haven’t had to ask any of them to do them; they’ve all wanted to play,” says Toby.

The solo format also enables Toby to book acts for Hyena nights in York on a Sunday and at Harrogate Theatre for the following night.

“So, geographically, this booking policy nights makes sense too,” he says.

From this month to the end of May, the weekly Hyena Lounge programme in York will be a mixture of solo gigs and club nights with three acts, such as Junior Simpson, Kent Valentine and Sam Avery on February 1 and Paul Tonkinson, Charlie Baker and Dan Nightingale on March 8.

The triple bills will remain a key part of the Hyena Lounge comedy portfolio.

“For those who want to come to a clubby night, something a bit more boozy, I hope they’ll see there are nights there for them,” says Toby, who has seen “effective numbers” drawn to the Theatre Royal’s sporadic comedy bills.

“It’s horses for courses: some people prefer to see comedy in a theatre rather than in a cellar bar that occasionally floods. Others don’t.”

Edinburgh previews will run from June 7 to August 2, and already Lucy Porter, Reginald D Hunter and Sarah Millican have confirmed their participation.

Toby can envisage further developments for the solo nights after the summer.

Ince by Ince... Robin thinks his way round

FIRST up in the new season, this Sunday in York and Monday at Harrogate Theatre, is Robin Ince on his national tour of Bleeding Heart Liberal, his chance to question the wisdom of the self-proclaimed majority.

He has plenty to get off his chest, not least a winter cold.

“By the second day of the tour I couldn’t believe that I was at the sneezing stage already,” says Robin. “Why would you go out on tour in January? It’s such a grim time, and of course no one wants to go out, but your adrenaline just over-rides that.

“The truth is, with that thing of starting your tour early in January, you get to build and build the show – though I have started earlier than normal because the City Varieties in Leeds is closing [for refurbishment], and I did the penultimate night last Thursday. I think Ken Dodd’s been there since Friday and he’s still going strong.”

He is a thinker, make no mistake, whether preparing for a one-off tour in celebration of Charles Drawin in June or writing his new book, Robin Ince’s Book Club, an alternative book club for those who eschew buying new books in favour of skulking around secondhand shops (as Robin does, filling his rucksack whenever he visits York).

“Doesn’t the knowledge drop out of the side of your head,” he says, reflecting on the hours spent searching the high shelves for sources of knowledge for his stand-up material.

“Physics is hard, too hard, to remember, so there are only two physics jokes left in the show – but it’s only after you leave school that you find all these fascinating facts that would have hooked you on to physics as a child.

“When I’m touring I always hope that afterwards people will leave the gig and go and buy a book. That’s one of the things that enthuses me about stand-up. I think there’s a teacher inside a stand-up.

“Mark Steel, Chris Adamson, Josie Long, we all have this missionary zeal in our shows to tell people about things, but without being a teacher, going out on stage for an hour and half instead.”

• Robin Ince: Bleeding Heart Liberal, Hyena Lounge Comedy Club, in The Basement, City Screen, York, Sunday at 7.30pm; Harrogate Theatre, Monday, 8pm. Box office: York, 0871 704 2054; Harrogate, 01423 502116.