The comedy week ahead

The comedy week ahead...

Today

RADIO: Three hours of radio comedy based around boredom shouldn’t be as dull as it threatens, thanks to host Tim Key. The afternoon of archive shows is inspired by an episode of Hancock’s Half Hour which aired on April 22, 1958, Sunday Afternoon At Home, which proved radical in the way it found humour among the minutiae of ordinary life.. a Senfeld for the Fifties. The strand starts with that episode and also includes such similarly inspired programmes as Sean Lock’s 15 Storeys High, The Boosh and Peter Cook. Radio 4 Extra, 1pm.

LIVE IN LONDON: It’s the final of the NATYs – or New Act Of The Year – at the Bloomsbury Theatre tonight. Formerly run by the Hackney Empire, it’s usually one of the more eclectic of the new act contests, with a variety bias. The finalists are: Alasdair Beckett-King, Archie Maddocks,Candy Gigi Markham, Garrett Millerick, Jo Coffey,Kelly Kingham, Nick Hodder, Pete Dobbing, Rogue 5, Thomas Ward, Thünderbards, Tina T'urner Tea Lady, Twayna Mayne, Vinegar and Wilson

LIVE IN SURREY: A great line-up of some of the best circuit comics in the business at the Rose Theatre, Kingston, courtesy of the Comedy Store: Adam Bloom, Jeff Innocent, Kerry Godliman and Tom Wrigglesworth bring the laughs.

Monday January 27

LIVE IN OXFORD: The Play That Goes Wrong – an hilarious farce that owes more than a nod to the missed cues and wobbly sets of things like Acorn Antiques – is on at the Oxford Playhouse all week, as part of a UK tour. Review

LIVE IN LONDON: Bill Bailey starts a new run of work in progress gigs at the Leicester Square Theatre, promising ‘no whistles, bells or owls at this stage’.

Tuesday January 28

LIVE IN LONDON: The under-rated John Robins kicks off his Where Is My Mind? tour with a couple of nights at the Soho Theatre before heading to Crawley, Exeter and beyond. We called it ‘funny, joyous and charmingly self-deprecating’ when we saw the show at the last Edinburgh Fringe - you can read that review here – along with his full tour dates.

LIVE IN LONDON: Still at Soho, absurd American comic Kurt Brauhohler – probably best known here for his collaborations with Kirsten Schaal – is performing his daft show Here’s Where It Gets Weird from tonight until Sunday.

Thursday January 30

LIVE IN BRISTOL: The man the word ‘droll’ was surely invented for – the superbly supercilious Simon Evans – starts off his Leashed tour at the Colston Hall. Click here for the rest of the dates.

LIVE IN GLASGOW: The I’m Sorry I Haven’t A Clue team are in town! Barry Cryer, Graeme Garden, Jeremy Hardy and Tim Brooke-Taylor will be given silly things to do by Jack Dee in the tour version of the Radio 4 show at the King’s Theatre.

LIVE IN LONDON: The passionately polemical Andrew Maxwell delivers a masterclass in socially astute comedy at the Prince Of Wales in Brixton tonight.

LIVE IN LONDON: There’s comedy in the Vaults beneath Waterloo station, as part of a festival in the atmospheric venue – and it’s a treat of a double-bill with on-form stand-up Sara Pascoe vs The Truth, followed by the fast-paced character world of Max and Ivan: in The Reunion.

LIVE IN LONDON: Plastic-bag wearing Irish musical character comedians Rubberbandits unveil their new show (though expect plenty of greatest hits too) at the Soho Theatre. Continental Fistfight runs until February 22.

Friday January 31

LIVE IN WALSALL: A good mix of styles at the Village Hotel, with cunning wordplay from Gary Delaney and upbeat musical comedy from Christian Reilly. It’s a meal-and-comedy deal at £13.95.

LIVE IN LONDON: The Phoenix pub, just off Oxford Circuis, is presenting a Weekend Weekender with three shows a day for £20 over the next three nights. Al Murray, Kevin Eldon, Alan Davis and Robin Ince re among those dropping in. Mitch Benn,Nina Conti and Tony Law open up proceedings

Published: 26 Jan 2014