The Weirdos, a self-titled 'collective of daft comics', are putting on a festive comic play in London this week for charity. So how did it come about, what is it about, and will it be a hit?

Over at Weirdos HQ, Adam Larter and Matthew Highton were ruminating on the prospect of Christmas cheer and, after a long discussion, suddenly realised 'there has never been any sort of Christmas production performed live on stage'.

Well aware that the stage is no place for Christmas, lesser people would have been perturbed, writing off the idea as foolish festive nonsense and retreated into hibernation like the bears of old. But Larter and Highton were thankfully unperturbed, and in order to spread that much loved Christmas cheer they gathered the other Weirdos together to raise money for Great Ormond Street Hospital. They penned 'a classic' - The Colonel. It's an anarchic pantomime and war epic about a poor Kentucky boy trying to find his way in the world. It also contains chicken. Lots of chicken...

So what makes this a Christmas Classic? Well here's ten good reasons supplied by The Weirdos:

1. Chicken: There's lots of chicken and everyone knows chickens are baby turkeys and what's more Christmassy than a turkey?

2. Emotion: In the UK, people only show emotion at Christmas and so The Colonel is packed full of it. Lead man Ali Brice said "I watched all the latest Star Wars films back to back and can now do emotion." Prepare for tears.

3. Snow: No Christmas tale is complete without it, so for that reason The Colonel is set in the snowiest land of all - Kentucky!

4. Ghosts: Since Jane Austen wrote about Scrooge, no Christmas story has existed without at least one ghost in it. Even Home Alone had that small ghost child that drank coke. The Colonel is no exception; expect spooky Yule happenings.

5. Explosions: Every year at Christmas, an older member of the family prattles on about how Christmas Crackers represent when Jesus exploded on his birthday each year, and how in their day they didn't have crackers so they'd use real explosions. The Colonel harks back to the old traditions and has explosions galore.*

6. Red: The colour red has been associated with Christmas ever since Dr Pepper put the suit on Santa. Therefore the poster was made red. Job done.

7. Booze: No Christmas is complete without a little brandy, wine and eggnog. Hence why all the cast will be drinking heavily throughout the day before performances to enhance that Christmassy feel.

8. Violence: Following on from booze, what Christmas is complete without a little violence? Nothing says Merry Christmas like a punch in the face. There's a reason why The Colonel discourages children from attending... and that's due to its adult depictions of graphic comic violence.

9. Santa: You have to look a little harder for this one, but surly you've seen the comparison by now? Colonel. Santa. Colonel. Santa. Colonel... Santa... Hmmm...

10. Presents: OK, there aren't any presents, but surely the greatest present anyone can receive is laughter? Scratch that, the second best present anyone can receive is laughter, but the first is a ticket to The Colonel.

If nothing else, The Colonel: A Weirdos Comedy Production is set to be the must see show this Christmas, so please come down to Bethnal Green Working Men's Club on either the 16th, 17th, 18th or 20th of December 2013 and let the Weirdos worry about Christmas. Tickets are available and all money raised goes towards Great Ormond Street.

*Explosions may not be in the final version pending an enquiry of a rehearsal "incident".