Seann Walsh is piloting a sitcom loosely based on his career following the fallout from his stint on Strictly Come Dancing, British Comedy Guide can exclusively reveal.

In Clown, the comic stars as "Seann", performing stand-up to a tiny crowd in Wakefield while starring on a reality show in which celebrities pretend to be zoo animals, desperate to get himself onto a Taskmaster rip-off while remaining out of the tabloid headlines.

Co-written by Walsh with James Kettle (Late Night Lycett, Frankie Boyle's New World Order), the stand-up also produces the 11-minute taster with directors James Newman and Harrison Newman (Do Not Touch) for their production company No Context Productions. You can watch it here:

Clown co-stars comedians Paul Tonkinson, Fiona Allen and Chris Washington, as well as Bhasker Patel (Beta Female) and Sofia Engstrand (Do Not Touch) and features the voices of comics Kate Robbins, Stephen Grant and Josh James.

"I've made an online sitcom. I would say web-series but there's only one because I funded it myself and I have a daughter to feed, a mortgage to pay and lots of apps I don't use to keep going" Walsh wrote on Instagram.

"I co-wrote it with James Kettle who writes for lots of funny people you like on tele and has big hair. [The pilot is] directed by James & Harry Newman who I met when I saw their brilliant comedy Viskar I Vinden at the Crystal Palace International Film Festival that you should also watch. They did an incredible job with a budget that although is a lot to come out of my pocket, is fuck all to make something like this with. Thank you!"

Nominated for the Edinburgh Comedy Award in 2022, Walsh has enjoyed considerable success from releasing his special Kiss on YouTube.

Last year he was developing the therapy sitcom Rowan, also co-written with Kettle, and co-starring Miles Jupp, Robbins, Rosie Holt, Marek Larwood and Tom Little and appeared in the non-broadcast pilot Man Cave, written by and starring Kevin Bishop with Harry Enfield, which was developed by Spirit Studios (The Stand Up Sketch Show) in 2022 for ITV2.

The Clown pilot shares some similarities with a short film that Walsh made in 2021 with the same name, directed by filmmaker and comedian Joe Bor. Walsh made his feature film debut last year in the sci-fi flick The Bystanders, helmed by his long-time friend Gabriel Foster Prior, who also serves as editor on this new pilot.

Walsh is appearing at the Royal Albert Hall for the Teenage Cancer Trust Night Of Comedy on 19 March, alongside Kevin Bridges, Joe Lycett, Rob Beckett, Paul Chowdhry and Joanne McNally.

He continues his Back From The Bed tour on 3 April at the Colchester Mercury Theatre and is about to begin a series of work-in-progress dates of his next tour, starting at the King Edward Hall in Lindfield on 26 March.