ENJOY countless laughs during 28 shows in five venues over four days as Winchester Comedy Festival gets under way on Thursday.

A Railway Inn gig from self-proclaimed 'absolute lad' Joe Lycett with That's the Way A-ha A-ha, Joe Lycett is already a complete sell out, but there's plenty of fun to be had elsewhere.

Following his latest sell-out Fringe run, John Lloyd gets the festival started at Theatre Royal Winchester with his brand new show Emperor of the Prawns – a hilarious hour from one of British comedy’s most inventive minds with a CV that includes creating Not The Nine O'Clock News, Blackadder, Spitting Image and QI.

Winchester born radio host Christian O’Connell is at the Discovery Centre the following night with his critically acclaimed show You’ve Ruined My Morning… And Other Fan Mail.

In his new show, Christian recalls the ups and downs of being a breakfast DJ. From winning multiple awards for his show (good), to receiving death threats and abusive letters from offended clowns and angry cat lovers (not so good).

Other highlights include appearances from local acts and big names in comedy like Hal Cruttenden, Paul McCaffrey, Simon Munnery, Tom Deacon and Katherine Ryan.

Comedy Club 4 Kids also returns.

Speaking ahead of his appearance with Fringe show Emperor of the Prawns, which takes you on a whistle-stop tour of the Universe through John's eyes, featuring mind blowing facts and exciting philosophical ideas, John Lloyd told Your Entertainment: "Well it's not about Emperors or prawns! It does reveal right at the end what it's about exactly, but really it's about meaning and consciousness and how we got here. Some pretty big stuff! It's come about through my research for QI, you come across all sorts of nuggets you don't understand or know about. This is an explanation of that.

"I'm Professor of Ignorance at Southampton Solent University and I find ignorance is a very unregarded quality. People think of it as a bad thing, but the children who ask questions at school no-one can answer will go on to do good things. Others in the class might go on to be lawyers or politicians, but they'll never write a hit pop song or TV series!"

See winchestercomedyfestival.co.uk