A new comedy night organised by a Shepton Mallet woman, launches tomorrow (Saturday 3rd August).

The Venue, on South Street in Wells, will host Silly Sausage Comedy, which promises to promote the very best new and breakthrough stand up comedy acts in the South West.

MC and creator of Silly Sausage Comedy, Heather Bryson-Banks said: "I love coming to Wells Comedy Festival each year, but was amazed to discover that Wells does not have a regular monthly comedy night."

Heather, aged 42 from Shepton Mallet, is a fledgling stand-up comedian herself, and has had to travel to Bristol and Bath in order to get experience on the open mic circuit.

"I'm passionate about showcasing the amazing new acts I've gigged with, and especially female comedians, who are wrongly, often overlooked," she said.

"Times are changing, and I was pleased to see some great female acts in Wells for the festival including Shappi Korsandhi, Lou Sanders and Kiri Pritchard-McLean.

"However, there are a ton of hilarious and hardworking funny women in the South West, who are yet to be seen by the people of Wells. Eight comedians for a tenner, it's a bargain."

Richard James is the headliner on launch night. He was a South West Comedian Of The Year finalist, and is currently completing an epic comedy walk for charity.

Richard is walking the South West Coast Path from Minehead round to Bournemouth, a total of 620 miles, stopping off to perform gigs and to raise money for the RNLI.

Opening the night is real life ITV weather girl turned comic, Sam Fraser, who took a show to Edinburgh, and has performed alongside Dane Baptiste.

Breakthrough acts on the night are Instafamous Katy Trevor, Dan Hershbein (whose parents live in West Pennard), Becca Walters, Hafren Holbrook and the brave ballsy Alexa Gibbens, fresh from touring her show "Alexa Tell Me a Dad Joke" about the death of her father.