The organisers of Devizes Festival have announced that the comedy slot in this year’s programme is to be filled by Phill Jupitus.

The stand-up comedian, actor, performance poet, cartoonist, and podcaster has been a team captain on BBC Two’s popular music quiz Never Mind the Buzzcocks since its inception in 1996 and appears regularly on several other panel shows, including QI and BBC Radio 4’s I’m Sorry I Haven’t a Clue.

He will be performing “You’re Probably Wondering Why I’ve Asked You Here...” from the character comedy show that he took to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in 2012. He plays the part of three extraordinary characters and, with the help of an inquisitive audience, he will reveal more about them on Thursday, June 20, in the Corn Exchange.

Best-selling author Deborah Moggach, who wrote The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, which was adapted into a hit film, will speak about her latest comic novel Heartbreak Hotel on Sunday, June 16, at the town hall.

The subject of the Café Scientific discussion will be Does Appearance Matter, led by Professor Nicola Rumsey, who is Vocational Training Charitable Trust professor of appearance research at the University of the West of England and is co-director of the Centre for Appearance Research. It takes place on Monday, June 10, at the Jal Khabar restaurant.

The subject of this year’s lecture in association with Wiltshire Heritage Museum is the Lacock Cup, which dates back to the 1400s and was loaned to the British Museum from St Cyriac’s Church in Lacock in 1962. It has been described as one of the most beautiful pieces of medieval plate. The speaker is Naomi Speakman, curator at the late medieval collections department of pre-history and Europe at the British Museum.

In conjunction with the Wiltshire Heritage Museum, there is a new event on Sunday, June 16 – a tour of Salisbury Plain that offers a chance to explore its hidden history.

The minibus tour will be led by experts in the history of the Salisbury Plain Training Area and includes visits to prehistoric barrows and field systems.