BARRY Castagnola once blagged his way on to the stage at the Comedy Store in Los Angeles. No such action will be necessary when he headlines the Laugh Out Loud Comedy Club bill at The Basement, City Screen, York, on August 24.

Comedian, actor and writer Castagnola has been performing stand-up in Britain and internationally for six years, employing an easy-going yet physical style, mixing personal anecdotes with topical and political comment and quick gags.

In demand as a compere as well as a headliner, he has performed in New York and Ireland and at the Melbourne Comedy Festival, Glastonbury and Reading Festival. He also has appeared in the Christmas episode of Greg Davies’s Channel 4 sitcom Man Down and created characters for ITV's Dom Joly’s Fool Britannia and BBC1's Ask Rhod Gilbert.

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Craig Murray: the voice of Yorkshire

One support act, Craig Murray, from Dewsbury, is both a comedian and the Yorkshire face of the Plusnet broadband adverts. The other, Anthony King, is an outwardly normal-looking bloke with a devilish, droll and deadpan humour, whose elegant stream of one-liners has taken him beyond Britain to the Netherlands, Dubai, Mallorca, Abu Dhabi and Al Ain.

Laugh Out Loud promoter Damion Larkin will be the master of ceremonies as usual from 8pm. "If you can’t make this event, our next show will be on September 22," he says.

Tickets cost £17 on 0871 902 5747 or at lolcomedyclubs.co.uk or £20 on the door from 7.30pm.