TWO of the country’s most in demand funnymen are warming up for their major UK tours in Hampshire this week.

Jimmy Carr is working on some new jokes as sold out Work in Progress takes to the Theatre Royal Winchester stage tonight.

The show is not finished, so essentially you’re watching Jimmy do his homework, something he describes as “joke mining”.

“You can’t stay grumpy when you have to think of jokes each day,” he says.

“I like to write a joke without any fat on it. The shorter the better. I cater for people with ADD, basically.”

You can expect a lot of short jokes in his live show – normally 300 in a set from the host of 8 Out of 10 Cats and 10 O’Clock Live.

Described as a show stopping tour de force, the energetic Jack Whitehall brings his work in progress to 02 Guildhall Southampton first tonight.

One of the UK’s hottest young comedy talents, he will then embark on his first ever live stand-up arena tour with sold out dates at Wembley Arena and the 02.

Jack Whitehall Gets Around is the first solo tour since the critically acclaimed Let’s Not Speak Of This Again from the King of Comedy Award winner and TV star.

Jack is best known for his role as public school graduate JP in comedy-drama, Fresh Meat. He has since flourished as a comedian and comic writer with his show Bad Education and as a panellist on A League Of Their Own, but admits he is more comfortable on stage.

“It’s a bit odd going from having an audience laugh to doing everything in silence… you do a joke and there’s nothing there,” he said. “It’s weird."

“I love being on stage and just messing around.”