When Colchester's Three Wise Monkeys wanted someone to put on a new comedy night, they picked a guy who has been doing it since the Sixties.

That's Trevor Jones who runs House of Stand Up, a comedy brand that he has been running from his Braintree-base since 2011, but a career that started when a certain Leonard Rossiter walked into his London letting agency.

"I completely fell into it," Trevor tells me. "When I left school and home at 15, I needed a place to go and I couldn't find anywhere, so the first business I set up was an accommodation bureau, what you might call a letting agent these days.

"My first was in Streatham and then I had one in Victoria, where I used to get all kinds of West End types coming in looking for a place. One day the actor Leonard Rossiter came in and he said I should go into PR and start booking stars for events.

"Back then it was mostly celebrity shop openings and my clients ranged from Little and Large to DJs like Tony Blackburn and David Hamilton."

After a while Trevor found the travel involved in being a celebrity booker took him away from his young family and so he changed jobs, moving into period furniture but it wasn't long before he was back into comedy.

With most of his clients and bookings from his old south London days, Trevor is thrilled to bits he's now got a venue closer to home.

Trevor says: "They're mainly in Kent, Surrey, south of the river, so to have one in Colchester is a little bit of a dream. I also love the venue. Like having a trendy London venue and the Upstairs room is perfect for comedy, I can't wait."

And he won't have to for very long because the first of his monthly clubs starts next Thursday, March 7, with a cracking international headliner in Craig Campbell, who has made appearances on Michael McIntyre’s Comedy Roadshow, Russell Howard’s Good News, Alan Davies’ As Yet Untitled and Dave’s One Night Stand.

He'll be joined by compere for the night Danny Ward, who will be introducing sets by the likes of Matthew Osborne, Nelson Gombakomba and Alex Oliver.

Doors are at 7pm for a 8pm start. To book go to houseofstandup.co.uk/colchester