DUBBED the 'kings of satirical comedy', Steve Punt and Hugh Dennis, the stars of Radio 4's The Now Show and Radio 2's It's Been A Bad Week, kick off their new national tour in Abergavenny's Borough Theatre tonight (January 7) at 8pm.

Steve told Mono he thinks their performance will be their first foray into Gwent.

"We've never played in Abergavenny or Newport before. We have done Swansea, Cardiff and Llandudno."

Don't expect any sheep jokes or gags about the Welsh.

"There are some tried and tested jokes we try to avoid...we do use part of some shows to talk about local attractions and we collect racks of leaflets from the places we stay."

He said the pair are looking forward to going back to their roots by doing live shows, a change he said from the more "artificial" setting of radio shows.

"No two live shows are ever the same and they evolve as you go on."

Much of the duo's work is based on political satire and they recently met the people they regularly lampoon during special performances during the party conference season.

"It is interesting meeting the people you make fun of," he said.

Steve and Hugh first worked together as one-half of The Mary Whitehouse Experience, which ran for two years on Radio 1 from 1988 to 1990 before transferring to BBC2 where it gained a cult following.

Since those early days, they have written and performed 13 series of The Now Show and 11 series of It's Been A Bad Week.

Hugh has enjoyed several successful stints as a guest presenter on Have I Got News For You and also starred in the BBC sketch show TV To Go.

Steve regularly writes for Rory Bremner, Clive Anderson, Jo Brand, Ruby Wax, Alistair McGowan and Angus Deayton.

Tickets cost £12 (£10 concessions).