Hullarious! Comedy Festival turns 20

Hull's longest-running comedy festival is hitting a big milestone this autumn. Hullarious! turns 20, and the anniversary edition runs from 1 to 15 November, which is about a week away. It's billed as Yorkshire's biggest independent comedy festival, and the format is worth a quick recap before you start booking: a fortnight of stand-up, sketch, clowning, improv, comedy theatre and family shows spread across a range of city centre venues rather than one single site.

The venues are a good part of the draw. Hull Truck Theatre, The Brain Jar, Jubilee Central, the Fruit Market, The Pop Up Space and the Asylum all get shows, with Polar Bear Music Club and other independent city centre spaces filling in the gaps. That spread is exactly what the festival director, Gary Jennison, leans on: "Hull is bursting with comedy talent and this year's festival is the proudest showcase of it we've ever put on. Twenty festivals in, we've got unbelievable names coming to the city, but my favourite thing is seeing our own local and regional comics sharing the bill."

There's a bit of a warm-up before the main run. Larry Dean, Edinburgh Comedy Award-nominated and a two-time Live At The Apollo star, opens things at the Asylum on 27 October. Then the main programme kicks in: Jeddy Bear & Gary's Greatest Hits bring pie-flinging chaos to Hull Truck Theatre on Saturday 31 October; Frankie Monroe, who has picked up the BBC New Comedy Award, the Edinburgh Comedy Award for Best Newcomer, the Chortle Student Comedy Award and Best Show at the Leicester Comedy Festival, plays the same venue on Tuesday 3 November; and Best of 'Ull, the festival's annual showcase of Hull's own comedy talent, lands on Wednesday 4 November. That same night, Sandro Ford brings his first UK and Ireland run, Lager Than Life, to Molly Mangan's.

The rest of the bill keeps moving. Andrew O'Neill, the Occult Comedian, does The History of Punk at Polar Bear Music Club on Thursday 5 November, while the clowning and slapstick duo International Idiots Live play Hull Truck Theatre the same evening. Harry Stachini returns with Lobster at Jubilee Central on Friday 6 November, and Rich Austin brings STONE COLD and The Assassination of Dan Coldbeck by The Coward Railroad Bill to The Brain Jar on Sunday 8 November. Tuesday 10 November is the Stand Up and Give Fund BIG Comedy Gala, an all-star night raising money for the Live Comedy Association's work with grassroots comedy. Wednesday 11 November loads up with Michael Cook and Amy Albright's He Was a Punk, She Did Ballet!, Mike Linwood's JUVEN'ULL and The Loose Cannons' The Name of The Dame. Aidan Jones blends stand-up with live classical piano in Chopin's Nocturne on Thursday 12 November, and Emma Davies presents You Are All Resources on Friday 13 November, a darkly comic, satirical character show about corporate HR and redundancy, loosely inspired by A Christmas Carol. Mr Sneaks' Best Bits and Quip Spice close out Saturday 14 November, and the whole thing wraps on Sunday 15 November with the Hull Comedian of The Year final, which crowns the next rising star and hands them a development programme.

Running alongside it all is the Hullarious fringe at The Pop Up Space in the Fruit Market, a pay-what-you-can programme put together with Hull What's On. It's the place to catch local and regional comics trying out new material, UK-toured shows and established acts road-testing new work in smaller rooms. As Jennison puts it: "The fringe on the Fruit Market lets anyone walk in, pay what they can and support acts and the festival."