Sharpen your vocal cords and brush up on those Christmas number ones for a festive singalong led by an award-winning comedian and classically trained musician.

Conductor and comedian Rainer Hersch and his band, the Christmas Crackers, will be joined by actress Charlotte Page for the night at the Epsom Playhouse.

Hersch, who has performed on TV and major comedy stages around the world, told VIBE that he mainly conducts classical orchestras these days.

He said: "I wanted to do something a bit guilty with a Christmas show. A lot of the music is more than a pop single, it's quite orchestral the way these numbers are written."

Hersch, who is deaf in one ear, said: "It's not great. I wish it could be otherwise, but many greater musicians than I were deaf in one ear.

"There is a long and noble tradition of deaf musicians which I'm holding up."

Beethoven became almost completely deaf in the last decade of his life. At the premiere of his Ninth Symphony in 1824, he had to turn around to see applause because he couldn't he could hear it or the orchestra.

Hersch's special guest Page studied at the Royal Academy of Music and has gone on to perform at opera houses and theatres around the world.

Rainer Hersch’s Christmas No.1 Singalong first hit the stage at Southbank Centre last year and it has subsequently featured on BBC1's the One Show.

This yuletide treat includes hits such as Bohemian Rhapsody, Merry Xmas Everybody and I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday plus classics such as Twelve Days of Christmas, Jingle Bells and Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer.

Rainer Hersch’s Christmas No.1 Singalong; The Epsom Playhouse, Ashley Avenue, Epsom; Friday December 5; 7:30pm; tickets £18.50; call 01372 742555/742227; visit www.epsomplayhouse.co.uk