THREE days of free comedy will be on the bill at The Burning Duck Comedy Club's first ever Big Egg Comedy Festival at The Basement, City Screen, York.

Running from June 29 to July 1, this new festival curated by Burning Duck promoter Al Greaves will showcase "the best up-and-coming and international musical, character, sketch, spoken-word and stand-up comedy performers".

"Expect to see more established and new favourite acts, some of whom you might have already seen performing at previous Burning Duck comedy nights, or on TV, or heard on the radio or winning awards at the Edinburgh Fringe," says Greaves.

York Press:

Bethany Black: Unwinnable: July 1 show

"Names such as last year's Edinburgh Fringe best newcomer nominees Lucy Pearman and Rob Kemp, previous best newcomer nominee Ben Target and previous best show nominee Seymour Mace."

The shows are free, but you can book a £5 ticket to guarantee entry or Pay What You Want afterwards. "Alternatively, £35.50 tickets, including booking fee, are available to ensure admission to all shows," says Greaves, who welcomes bookings at burningduckcomedy.com/

York Press:

Chance to see Peter Fleming: June 29

June 29's shows will be: 5.30pm, The Burning Duck Student Comedians of The Years; 7.30pm, Jayne Edwards: Top Body Builder Brian; 9.30pm, Peter Fleming: Have You Seen?.

June 30's line-up: 11am, Dinosaurs Love Fairy Cakes: Dinosaur D-Roar-ing Class (recommended age 4 plus); 1pm, Sam and Tom: Interview; 3pm, Andy Barr: Neustadt; 5pm, Lucy Pearman: Fruit Loop; 7pm, Ali Brice's Lemonade Stand; 9pm, Sam Nicoresti's Bedtime.

July 1's bill: 11am, Dinosaurs Love Fairy Cakes: Dinosaur D-Roar-ing Class; 1pm, Seymour Mace; 3pm, Hal Branson: Mbolo; 5pm, Ben Target: Splosh!; 7pm, Rob Kemp's Wheel Of Shows; 9pm, Bethany Black: Unwinnable.

York Press:

Burning Duck Comedy Club promoter Al Greaves

Just a quickie with... promoter Al Greaves

Why are you running this festival, Al?

"I love comedy festivals and increasingly watch lots of amazing performers delivering incredible shows, frequently featuring elements of theatre, poetry, character comedy, audience interaction, live music and homemade props.

"Often these acts talk about more personal subjects that might not always be appropriate for a weekend comedy club, which I would like to present in York, so that's what we're doing."

Why is it called the Big Egg Comedy Festival?

"We were inspired by the Armando Iannucci sketch where he asks somebody 'What's small and big at the same time?'. 'A Big Egg!'...because we wanted to do a festival which is big and small at the same time."

York Press:

Ali Brice's Lemonade Stand: June 30 show

Are all the shows "family friendly"?

"As we like our artists to have creative freedom, unfortunately we can't guarantee all shows will be suitable for all ages, but we'll clearly identify suitable age limits for each show. We do, however, have Saturday and Sunday Dinosaur Life-Drawing Classes at 11 o'clock, which are aimed at any child aged four plus who loves to draw and has a good attention span."

Do you have a favourite show at the Big Egg festival?

"I'm honestly looking forward to watching all of the shows, some of which I've already seen at a preliminary stage at the Leicester Comedy Festival, such as Tom Burgess's character piece Peter Fleming: Have You Seen?, which won that festival's award for best debut show."

York Press:

See more of Seymour Mace at Big Egg: July 1 

What's coming next for the Burning Duck Comedy Club?

"After this festival, we'll be presenting showcase shows every day as part of the Great Yorkshire Fringe in York, when there'll be shows at The Basement from July 21 to 29, so this is an opportunity for us to warm up for that.

"We also have lots more shows lined up in the autumn, such as Jamali Maddix at The Crescent; Ray Bradshaw; Phil Nichol, Edinburgh Fringe best show winner in 2006; Jen Brister; Justin Moorhouse and Carl Hutchinson, as well as some more mixed-bill compilation shows."

York Press:

Sam and Tom: Interview: June 30 show