A BUDDING comedian who runs free stand-up shows has launched a new night in East Lancashire.

Adam Anwar, 31, started doing stand-up a year ago and won Frog and Bucket’s Beat the Frog competition on his first night on the scene.

Since then he has performed up and down the country and has even taken his stand-up routine abroad.

Adam launched The Comedy Lofthouse at pub and microbrewery Northern Monkey in his hometown of Bolton earlier this year.

Now, due to the success of the night, he is expanding it to other venues in the North West.

Adam and his business partner Matt Downey brought the show to the Arden Inn in Accrington – after successfully taking it to Bamber Bridge and Hindley.

Adam said: “Hindley was just a friend telling people at the bar about the success we’ve been having in Bolton.

“We did a trial night and more than 90 people packed into a small pub, so that’s monthly now.

“The venue in Bamber Bridge actually heard about us and asked us to come down.

“We did a first one in Accrington recently which was decent and we have the second on Monday so we’ll see how that goes. Hopefully that can be monthly.”

Adam comperes the shows, which feature a number of comedians with a variety of different of styles.

He added: “It gives up-and-coming comedians a chance to get stage time and perform for a new audience.

“The shows are a bit of a buffet approach. You may not enjoy everyone but there’ll always be two or three you enjoy.

“We’ve had an Australian comedian, a Canadian and a Lithuanian. We’ve also featured some disabled comedians and we’re about giving everyone a platform.”

The Comedy Lofthouse will return to The Arden Inn on August 26 and at Brig N Barrel, Bamber Bridge, on August 31.