Alternative comedy is coming to the Ramsgate Music Hall, with stars including Lee Nelson, Milton Jones and Alun Cochrane.

Every Thursday from mid-June the RMH will run previews of shows heading for Edinburgh Festival.

Then, in September, the venue will be hosting the Best of the Fest, featuring hits from the festival’s Fringe.

Ramsgate film maker and former artistic director of Ho Hum Theatre Company Katherine Shannon is behind the new comedy venture.

Katherine ran the Top Dog comedy club in Brixton, booking Al Murray, Noel Fielding, Lee Mack, Milton Jones and Dara O’Briain.

She said: “The intimacy of the Music Hall is absolutely perfect for comedians.

“They love the interaction, which they can’t get in a barn like the Winter Gardens.

“That’s why they want to perform here, try out new material and look an audience in the eye.

“If you’re frightened of being spoken to, please don’t sit in the front row.”

Katherine encouraged Noel Fielding to try out his solo material at Top Dog, helping to launch Fielding’s reputation as a surreal comic in his own right, away from the Mighty Boosh.

Katherine said: “That’s the kind of name we are attracting to Ramsgate.

“We have a big community of comedians and musicians coming here and I think there’s a huge audience for these shows.

“To see someone that close is an extraordinary experience, and most acts will stay on and have a drink afterwards, so we get to meet them in the intimate upstairs bar.”

Kicking off the comedy season on Thursday, June 18, is Scott Capurro, San Francisco’s Perrier-award-winning scurrilous master of the unmentionable, described by the Guardian as “the most fearless and technically perfect stand-up on the circuit”.

Through June and July, Thursdays will be preview nights for comics heading for Edinburgh, plus a mix of established and new performers including Bafta-nominated Michael Legge, Comedy Store regular Mark Maier and bright new talents Pippa Evans, Lou Sanders and Christian Steel.

Meanwhile Tuesdays at the RMH will be spoken word night, with writers and poets giving readings, answering questions and signing editions in this intimate, friendly environment.

Katherine said: “You’re going to get readings, signing and Q and A with some big up-and-coming names, such as In The Thick Of It writer Will Smith, whose debut novel Mainlander is being lined up for TV.”

On July 7 investigative journalist Tim Crook will read from The Secret Lives Of A Secret Agent, his biography of spy, bigamist, soldier and writer Alexander Wilson.

Stage and screen director Patrick Tucker is giving a director’s workshop in June, while screenwriter Adrian Bain is to present on protecting film rights.

Tickets cost from £12.50 from www.wegottickets.com or www.ramsgatemusichall.com