FUNNYMAN Russell Howard has added extra tour dates for Liverpool and Manchester due to popular demand.

The spritely comedian has added new dates up and down the country to his Wonderbox tour to cater to his growing popularity.

The extra dates have created a further 85,000 tickets at arenas across the UK, on top of the 200,000 fans who have already booked their seats for the 2014 tour.

Howard will be returning to Liverpool’s Echo Arena on December 17 and Manchester’s Phones 4U Arena on December 20.

The Bristol native first rose to fame with his BBC3 series Russell Howard’s Good News, which was recently voted the Best Ever BBC3 Show by Digital Spy users.

Howard was a frequent panellist on BBC2’S satirical talk show Mock the Week until 2010 and even made his debut in the States in earl 2011 featuring on a comedy show titled Conan.

Wonderbox will be the 34-year-old’s first live stand-up show in three years, following on from his 2011 Right Here, Right Now tour, which was three times extended.

AIMEE CHESTER