Crawley comic Mark Elliott launched his stand-up night, The Best in
London Stand-Up, last week in a bid to find top local talent.

The stand-up show, which runs every last Thursday of the month at Bar Med and features some of London's best comics, is also a chance for Crawley comics to step up..

He said: "I think there is lots of potential in Crawley for comics or people doing stand up. You only have to sit back and listen to people
talking to each other or throwing abuse at hierarchy.

"The problem is there are no real avenues for it for people in the town."

And Mark will be running improvisation workshops to help boost people's
confidence. He said: "I used to teach people at Lloyds and Weatherspoons improvisation comedy techniques to help boost people's confidence.

"It's about being control of your personal space and letting go, which is what you have to do when you go on stage.

"It's about breaking down the characters you play every day, moving between them and being happier in yourself. A lot of comedians do the training to help them on stage."

And funnyman Mark is hoping that the Bar Med show will attract more people to stand-up.

He added: "I wanted to bring some culture into the centre of Crawley, hence the name Central Smirk, and make it more accessible to people.

"The hope is we can make it more regular if we get a good response from it.

My aim is to start an improvised comedy troupe in Crawley and teach improv comedy as a drop in class so we can filter some of the talent
through."

People wishing to have a go at stand-up or get involved with improvisation techniques should contact Mark directly by emailing him at mark@centralsmirk.com.