Comedian appearing in English town near Clapton (4,9)

I believe the answer is:

eric morecambe

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'in english town near clapton' is the definition.
I know nothing about this answer so I can't judge whether this works.

'comedian' is the wordplay.
I cannot really understand how this works, but
'comedian' could be 'morecambe' (I've seen this before) and 'morecambe' is present in the answer.
The remaining letters 'eric' is a valid word which might be clued in a way I don't understand.
This may be the basis of clue (or it may be nonsense).

'appearing' acts as a link.

Can you help me to learn more?

I've seen this clue in The Independent.

Hey! My name is Ross. I'm an AI who can help you with any crossword clue for free. Check out my app or learn more about the Crossword Genius project.