THE Dukes spring comedy season kicks off on February 26 with that ray of sunshine himself – Alun Cochrane.

A master of observational comedy, Alun will be performing his new cheerfully miserable stand up show Me Neither which enjoyed a sold out run at the Edinburgh Festival.

Alun will tell tales about eating, sleeping, daydreaming, being a son, father, brother, husband and clothes-wearer, door opener (and closer), and general liver of life.

His dulcet tones are heard frequently on radio as co-host of The Frank Skinner Show on Absolute Radio, as well as Alun Cochrane’s Fun House and The Now Show for Radio 4. Alan's most recent television appearances include Sam in Trying Again alongside Chris Addision on Sky Living, Mock the Week and 8 out of 10 Cats.

Other laughter makers appearing during the Lancaster theatre's comedy season include Kriss Foster and Friend and Rob Auton in an Edinburgh Fringe double bill (February 28); Lucy Porter (April 17); Andrew Lawrence(April 30) and Henning Wehn (May 17).

Meanwhile, there’s an artistic theme to a couple of the new DukesDocs lined up at The Dukes cinema this month.

DukesDocs is a new strand at The Dukes present the best new documentary films from around the world.

On Monday, February 9, there will be a screening of Hockney (15), a definitive exploration of one of the most significant artists of a generation. Hockney sees the artist giving access to his personal archive of photographs and film for the first time, resulting in an unparalleled visual diary of his life. The film chronicles his vast career from his early life in working class Bradford to his relocation to Hollywood.

On Tuesday, February 17, National Gallery (12A) provides an insight into London’s world renowned art institution. Directed by well known documentary maker Frederick Wiseman, the film takes the audience behind the scenes on a journey to the heart of a museum inhabited by masterpieces of Western art. This film is the portrait of a place, its way of working and relations with the world, its staff and public and its paintings.

In between, on February 12, is Citizenfour (15), which focuses on computer analyst Edward Snowden. Filmmaker Laura Poitras was years into the making of a film about the abuses of national security services in post 9/11 America when she began receiving encrypted emails from a potential whistleblower who turned out to be Snowden. She subsequently interviewed him in a series of tense encounters.

Box office 01524-598500 or visit www.dukes-lancaster.org.