Heard the one about the homeless comic?

Stand-up comic Damian Kingsley is to stop off in the North East on his fundraising journey to Edinburgh.

Kingsley began traveling to the Edinburgh Fringe from Lands End on 24 March – without using money or public transport – in order to raise money and awareness for homelessness charity Shelter.

The comic will be making 120 stops on route to the festival, performing his new show Knock Knock in exchange for basic necessities, and hoping to be given shelter, food and lifts in return for telling jokes.

All money raised from the show’s Fringe run in August will also go to Shelter.

While passing through the North East Damien will be performing the following shows:

Thursday 23 June – The White Rose, Aiskew, North Yorkshire
Friday 24 June – Chantry Hall, Bedale, Yorkshire
Sunday 26 June – The Old Well Inn, Barnard Castle
Saturday 2 July – Creative Base, Gateshead

Entry to the shows are free with a voluntary contribution to Shelter at the end.

Kingsley said: “So far the take up and support for the tour has been incredible and I have already raised over £10,000. You can support the tour by coming to a show, donating online, spreading the word, hosting a show or even giving me something I need for the journey, like food or jokes.”

Peter Dixon from Funny Way To Be Comedy in Barnard Castle said, “Damian is doing a great job raising money for a fantastic cause so we are very pleased to support him for one of the days on his journey.

“Often our shows take over a year to set up so it was lovely to find out about the tour, just a week before Damian is in the area, and within 24 hours we made arrangements with a very helpful local venue, announced it on social media and had posters up around the town. The interest has already been fantastic.”