It may be cold, it may be rainy, but there’s still plenty of laughs to be had in January.

Following Andrew Lawrence’s Clean last weekend, the Colchester Arts Centre are determined to wash those post New Year blues away with a whole host of top stand-ups.

Next up there’s a double dose of comedians when Carl Donnelly and Julian Deane, otherwise known as the Vegan Idiots, arrive in the town on Tuesday, January 22.

An Edinburgh Fringe favourite, Carl’s style of comedy has landed him a host of awards including Best Newcomer at The Chortle Awards in 2007, Leicester Mercury Comedian of the Year in the same year and Laughing Horse New Act of the Year in 2006.

Known internationally as well as in the UK, he has performed at some of the biggest comedy festivals in the world and is also a regular face on TV with appearances on Mock The Week, Russell Howard’s Good News and Stand Up For The Week.

Julian Deane has also been a familiar face on telly performing on Russell Howard’s Hour and supporting Paul Chowdhry on his nationwide tour Live Innit. His writing skills have also been put to use on Matt Forde’s Unspun, on digital channel Dave, as well as a host of other television shows.

Together the pair have recorded a number of popular podcasts where they talk about everyday issues with various comedy guests, which off the back of the duo have decided to now take on the road.

Closing the month of January will be one of the most high profile stand-ups on the circuit, Stephen K Amos with his Bouquets and Brickbats show on January 25, and elsewhere Colchester’s Charter Hall’s first event of the year will be a visit from the world famous London’s Comedy Store on the same night.

With nearly 40 years’ experience in the business, The Comedy Store is renowned as a breeding ground for new comedy talent, and remains the place to see tomorrow’s stars today.

For more information on that gig go to colchester-events.co.uk/whats-on