HYENA Lounge Comedy Club promoter Toby Clouston-Jones has only a couple of gaps to fill before his Edinburgh Preview season is complete.

Kicking off this weekend with Carey Marx and Pippa Evans, each Sunday’s line-up in The Basement at City Screen, York, will be a double bill of comedy acts testing out new material for their Fringe and Comedy Festival dates in Scotland.

Coupling up in the weeks ahead will be Sarah Millican and Gary Delaney on June 13; Alun Cochrane and Tony Law, June 20; Jason Cook and TBC, June 27; Justin Moorhouse and Phil Nichol, July 4; Markus Birdman and Rob Rouse, July 18; Pete Firman and TBC, July 25; and Reginald D Hunter and Seann Walsh, August 1.

Blame the counter attraction of the World Cup Final in South Africa for the lack of a show on July 11, by which time England surely will have made their usual forlorn exit and a night’s comedy might have been most welcome, but for now we can but dream.

“I’m the ultimate doom-monger, and as a comedy promoter I’d prefer an early exit, but you have to live in hope,” says Toby.

In naming his comedy squad for Summer 2010, Clouston-Jones is giving Edinburgh Preview debuts to Marx, Evans, Delaney, Law, Firman and Walsh.

“I pick who I’d gladly go to see in Edinburgh, without having to get on the train to do so,” he says.

“Choosing names to watch, keep an eye on Pippa Evans, who’s been nominated before for the Best Newcomer award; I think Gary Delaney is going to have a huge Edinburgh; and I gather Phil Nichol is doing more of a character role, as a dried-up Vegas country-and-western act who’s a total showbiz failure, so there’ll be a fair amount of bitterness there.”

Toby enjoys seeing how the preview shows change as Edinburgh looms ever nearer.

“We go from the beginning, where acts could have notes on stage, to hopefully having very polished performances by the time Reginald D Hunter does his show here in early August,” he says.

“One of the exciting things is that some of the jokes you’ll hear in York won’t be heard elsewhere because they’ll be dropped by the time the show gets to Edinburgh as everyone is trying things out. We see them first, when they’re still experimenting.”

Looking ahead to the Hyena Lounge autumn season, Toby will continue his 2010 format of “totally tour dates”, which he plans to announce in the next fortnight.

“The decision to move more towards the touring show/arts centre show has proved the right thing to do as it’s upheld the quality of the acts each week,” he says.

“We’ve certainly noticed the upsurge in live comedy, which has been good for us. Even in the recession, to get a couple of hours of laughter is well worth anyone’s money.”

As ever, doors will open at 7pm for the 7.30pm start in The Basement and tickets for the Edinburgh Preview season will be £8 across the board on 0871 902 5726 or online at picturehouses.co.uk

• RUSSELL Howard’s brace of stand-up shows at the Hyena Lounge Comedy Club in York on August 15 and 16 have sold out already.

“His proper warm-ups for his next tour won’t be until next February, so he’s just coming to try things out for four days in Yorkshire, two at City Screen and two more at The Library in Leeds on August 17 and 18,” says promoter Toby Clouston-Jones, who has an impressive track record of enticing the Mock The Week and BBC3 comedian to experiment with his material in Yorkshire.

“I think he’ll be quite literally having a chat with the audience at some points just to see what comes out.”