Celebrated British film-maker Ken Loach has a long history of casting comedians in his films with John Bishop probably being the best known and you can see two of them at May’s Bank Holiday Heatons Comedy Evening.

Newcastle’s Dave Johns bagged the lead in Loach’s new film I, Daniel Blake, in which he stars alongside Hayley Squires.

The film will compete for the the Palme d’Or award at the Cannes Film Festival with Sean Penn and Pedro Almodovar who are among the 20 titles in contention for the top honour next month.

As a comedian, Dave has gained a reputation as being inventive, exciting and extremely funny, winning applause from his audiences,  respect from his fellow comics and rave reviews from the critics.

Compere for the evening is Justin Moorhouse, who starred in Loach’s 2009 hit Looking For Eric alongside his hero Eric Cantona.

The show on Sunday, May 1, is completed by Missouri’s Pythonesque, one-man sketch show Will Franken and, from much closer to home, Chorley’s Clayton Jones.

Tickets are £7.50 from the venue, online at www.heatonscomedy.co.uk or pay on the door from 7.15pm for a 7.45pm show.