New comedy season kicks off with duo who are 'fresh from the Fringe'

THE 2018 comedy season in Barnard Castle begins today (Saturday, January 20) with the visit of two rising stars who have both been tipped for the top.

Edinburgh Fringe best newcomer nominee Chris Washington and Heidi Regan, the current holder of the BBC New Comedy Award, present their full debut shows as part of a double bill dubbed Fresh From The Fringe, at The Witham, in Barnard Castle.

Chris Washington’s debut show Dream Big (Within Reason) went down a storm with critics and comedy fans alike, with the top comedy website, Beyond The Joke calling the funnyman: “A timeless storytelling joke-smith.”

It has also been a rapid rise for multi-award winning stand-up Heidi Regan.

Winner of the 2016 So You Think You’re Funny competition, she is also the current holder of the prestigious BBC New Comedy Award.

As a writer she has won a plethora of awards, including the Australian Writers’ Guild award for the Best Unproduced Feature Film Script and has seen her material incorporated in various formats such as film, sketch, sitcom and literature.

Promoter Peter Dixon said: “In her debut hour-long show she explores our relationship with an increasingly confusing world via the medium of shark films.

“She looks at religion, global warming and what makes Shark Attack III the Godfather III of shark films. This is a rare chance to see Heidi presenting a work in progress version of her debut hour, Heidi Vs Sharks, the Internet and Everything.”

Mr Dixon added: “We spent a month in Edinburgh last summer looking for new talent and these were two of the best new acts we saw.

“We are delighted to bring them together to perform their debut shows.

“Both of them have such great stage presence, and we can easily understand why critics are predicting a massive future for them both,” he said.

“We think it’s going to be one of those shows where in the future we look back and think, how did we managed to put those two on the same bill?”

The show starts at 8pm and tickets, priced £12 in advance, for the show are available now from funnywaytobe.com and the Witham Box Office.

If they are still available, tickets on the door will be £14. The audience is restricted to 16+.