IT may be a new year but it’s more of the same from Hitchin’s monthly comedy club.

Doggett and Ephgrave host Mostly Comedy and welcome back 82-year-old lifestyle guru Barry from Watford, a regular on BBC Radio 2 show Steve Wright in the Afternoon, for its first gig of 2012 next Thursday, January 19.

‘Barry’ is the creation of comedian Alex Lowe, who has appeared in TV programmes such as Phoenix Nights on Channel Four and BBC2’s Saxondale and The Thick of It.

An instant hit after first appearing on the airwaves on London talk radio show LBC in 2005, the Barry from Watford podcast then spent two weeks in the podcast top 10 on iTunes after its release in 2010 by Absolute Radio.

Also returning to The Croft in Bancroft will be James W Smith with his “great one-liners” according to fellow stand-up Richard Herring, as well as Hackney Empire New Act of the Year finalist Nathaniel Metcalfe offering up dry but surreal observations

January’s bill is completed with another Hackney Empire New Act of the Year finalist in the form of sketches double act McNeil and Pamphilon, who impressed critics at the last Edinburgh Festival Fringe, with music from Comet country’s very own Spandex Ballet .

Doors open at 8.15pm, with the first act taking to the stage at 9pm.

Tickets are �6, and are available both on the door or in advance via www.mostlycomedy.co.uk