A Coventry publican is hoping to discover a new comic genius in the city after launching a monthly stand-up night.

The Earlsdon Cottage is appealing to comedians from around the area to contact them and appear in their new comedy slot – on the last Thursday of each month.

The idea has been developed by manager Chris Callaghan, who realised it could be a success when he saw a similar scheme in Oxford.

He said:

"I was in a pub in Oxford and they had a comedy night showcasing local talent, and the standard of it was superb – everyone really enjoyed themselves.

"I thought then that it would be a great idea to bring to Coventry and I am sure there are a lot of very talented comedians in the area that would love the opportunity to perform to a nice sized audience.

"Hopefully people coming along will want to have a bit of a laugh and listen to some good budding comedians, and you never know we could uncover a future comic genius."

The Cottage held its first comedy night last Thursday and although the turnout was fairly low Callaghan is expecting the word to spread quite quickly.

He said:

"We have a diversity of nights like the blues and folk sessions, and when we first got those going things were a bit slow until the news spread.

"It might take two or three weeks but I think this will be very popular. These nights are now quite well established and we are starting to attract some of the bigger local names, for instance on Tuesday we have King Pleasure and the Biscuit Boys.

"The room can hold 120 people which will be a nice size for people who are starting out and want to get used to performing in front of an audience."

A similar scheme is being successfully run by Leamington pub The Sozzled Sausage with tickets for their monthly comedy night often selling out in advance of the evening.