Comedy is bigger than ever in the North East, with festivals and tours from top names. Much of this is down to the hard work and perserverance of two men. Keith Newton reports.

COMEDY in the North East looked to be soaring to new heights when the annual Newcastle/Gateshead Comedy Festival was in full swing.

"It was run in a big marquee in Exhibition Park and was massive," agrees promoter and stand-up Warren Speed, "and then just stopped."

A North Yorkshire lad brought up in the rural villages that fringe south Teesside, he is director of Funny Bones Comedy, promotes and performs stand-up in the North East and is used to big challenges.

"Four years ago I did gigs in Redcar pubs with Alan Carr," says Warren. "Imagine, Alan Carr in Redcar pubs. Luckily he probably didn’t know much about pubs in Redcar. Then I did a student ball with him at the Tall Trees in Yarm."

When the Gateshead Comedy Festival collapsed, Warren stepped in. His proposition to the councils was that if they would relaunch the comedy festival, he and his company would do all the organising. They agreed.

"Comedy is bigger than ever now and we’ve just done our third festival. Hopefully there will be a fourth next year."

This year’s shows have been staged at The Sage Gateshead, Newcastle City Hall, swanky gastro pub As You Like It at Jesmond and new bar Nancy’s Bordello on Newcastle’s Argyle Street.

"I’m trying to grow it and trying to avoid getting the big names," he says. "The stand-up circuit has always been a breeding ground and I want the newcomers, the rising stars."

At various times a computer operator, printer, and probation officer, Warren performed his first gig in March 2001.

"It was one of the most nerve-wracking experiences of my life. I was often greeted by blank faces and sympathy."

Determined to spread the comic word, he launched two comedy clubs on Teesside. "A comedy night at the Dickens Inn in Middlesbrough never took off and one at Yarm went OK at first then died when the students went away for the summer."

He persevered and now runs successful comedy clubs across the North East from Durham to Hartlepool, Darlington and Richmond. In April, he is launching a fifth in conjunction with Newcastle City Council at Gosforth Civic Hall.

It’s no joke to say that Graham Ramsay is the comedy king of the Tees Valley. He runs Ten Feet Tall which works with Middlesbrough Council to bring the biggest acts to Middlesbrough Town Hall and runs the biggest regular comedy club in the North East in the monthly Big Mouth in the Town Hall Crypt. He also organises the Catch 22 comedy club jointly with Arc at Stockton.

All are roaring, runaway successes – thanks, he reckons, to a mix of good acts, good atmosphere and the recession. Indeed, Catch 22 and the Big Mouth are currently monthly events but from the autumn, he reveals, both will be going fortnightly.

"Comedy is selling better than ever," he says. "We’ve been chipping away for a lot of years now and we keep putting on more and more and selling more and more tickets. We can also reclaim a portion of Middlesbrough town centre for the over-21s."

Catch 22 has done so well and is so highly regarded that it earned a nomination as Best Comedy Club in the North in February’s prestigious Chortle Annual Comedy Awards.

It was up against major comedy clubs from Liverpool, Leeds and Newcastle as well as the eventual winner from Manchester. Sell-out visits have included Jimmy Carr, Alan Carr, Dylan Moran, Dave Spikey, Paddy McGuinness, Frankie Boyle, Dara O’Briain, Sean Lock, Ed Byrne, Rich Hall, Michael McIntyre and Mock The Week’s Andy Parsons.

Jimmy Carr cannot keep away. "He told a BBC TV audience that Middlesbrough Town Hall was his favourite venue," says Graham. "It’s a great place. The main hall has a certain grandeur."