An aspiring comic from Swindon will be stepping up as guest host on Carl Donnelly's podcast this month.

Wannabe comics in each town on Carl's UK tour have been invited to audition to take the place of the comedian's regular podcast partner, Chris Martin, who is spending six months in Los Angeles.

"Our comedy podcasts have proved quite popular so while Chris is away I thought it would be good for a laugh, and coincide with the tour, so there will be one brave soul from Swindon,'' said Carl.

The comedy podcasts have notched up more than 50,000 followers and were voted in to the top 10 of The Guardian's comedy list.

Carl is bringing his Bad Man Tings show to Swindon's Art Centre, Devizes Road, on Thursday, February 7 at 8pm. This latest offering was written for the Edinburgh Fringe and is a complete change for Carl as it is a happy show.

"They say comedy comes from pain and the last three were based on my trying times of divorce and depression, but it can become self indulgent. So this time, despite the silly title, I do not have to talk about something dark. It is the first year that I am happy,'' said Carl.

His show went down a storm at the Edinburgh Fringe, and is based on masculinity and features his thoughts on Kanye West, Generation Z, health fads and Netflix documentaries.

"I am a weird fan of Kanye West, I am into his music, but you can see his masculinity is so fragile,'' said Carl, who rarely has a support act when he is touring.

"I love doing the show on my own and playing both halves, but it is a bit lonely back stage in the interval when the audience are all having drinks with their friends,'' he said.

The comedian is finding his feet on various TV shows appearing as special guest on Russell Howard's Good News, Mock The Week, Alan Davies As Yet Untitled and Dave's One Night Stand, but he says nothing can replace the buzz of live theatre.

Carl said: "I like to play the room while TV comedians play to people at home. I like to look the audience in the eyes.''

The comic has also appeared on Football Tonight but says he is not sporty himself, despite being a life long Spurs fan, thanks to his dad.

"We did see how much we could get away with on wikipedia by saying that I played for Barcelona Juniors.'' he said.

Carl says that anyone wanting to become a comedian can take short cuts on social media these days, but he believes to learn the craft you need to do the circuit.

"You need to play the open mics, cope with hard audiences, over night coaches, terrible venues and keep learning. Social media is no substitute,'' he said.

After his tour finishes in April the comedian is off to Australia for six weeks with the Melbourne Comedy Festival Roadshow. He has never been to Swindon before and says he is looking forward to catching up with an old pal who lives in the town who will be coming to the Swindon Arts Centre to see the show. Tickets are £15 from 01793 524481 or visit swindontheatres.co.uk - Flicky Harrison