THE North East hasn't always been kind to comics.

The Sunderland Empire crowd seemed to take pleasure in throwing a spanner in the works of fledgling careers, and Sid James drew his last breath on the theatre's stage, though it isn't known whether hecklers were the cause.

But the region has been generous with its talent too, and Gavin Webster is the latest in a long line of stand-ups with a Geordie's winning way with a vowel sound.

He takes to the mike tomorrow at Pontardawe Arts Centre.

Having grown up in a house where Bobby Thompson was king, Gavin is a gag man, who has no truck with homogenised comedy.

"If you see an American comic doing Jewish jokes you might not get every reference they make, but you have experienced something new and you have got a slice of their life. I think that is all part of it.

"People talk about some regions of Britain being funnier than others. "Maybe it comes out of industrial towns, where people get together and have the crack as part of their working life. And I think you're right, communities that have had hard times maybe develop more of a sense of humour to cope with it."

8pm start.