The comedy week ahead

The comedy week ahead.

Today

LIVE IN NEWCASTLE: A busy week of Chortle student gigs kicks of at the University Of Newcastle tonight, followed by the  University of Wales’s Treforest campus on Tuesday, Dublin’s International bar on Wednesday and QMU in Glasgow on Thursday. Thanks to our sponsors at ALCATEL ONETOUCH and Universal Pictures (UK) for covering the Travelodge and Ginster’s tour budget…

Monday March 3

LIVE IN LONDON: Brett Goldstein’s honest and compelling storytelling show about the nature of sexuality, Contains Scenes Of A Sexual Nature, starts a six-night run at the Soho Theatre. There are plenty of serious points, but you are never too far from a chuckle, too. Review

LIVE IN ABERDEEN: Jack Whitehall starts his first arena tour which - unusually - he’ll perform ‘in the round’. He also says ‘There’s a sketch at the beginning with my father involved, there’s a wrecking ball, there’s what I hope will become known as the last great Segway entrance to a stand-up show in the history of British touring.’ Dates

Tuesday March 4

LIVE IN LONDON: A strong bill at the 99 Club in Storm nightclub tonight, with double headliners Carey Marx and Hal Cruttenden.

Wednesday March 5

RADIO: Improvisational challenge show Whose Line Anyway? is one of the many comedy institutions that started on radio before spawning the long-running Channel 4 programme and the even longer-running American version. This 1988 edition is where it first started, the very first episode with host Clive Anderson overseeing  Lenny Henry, Dawn French, John Sessions and Stephen Fry. Radio 4 Extra, 9.30am

RADIO: Topical sketch show Newsjack returns for a new series and with a new host, Romesh Ranganathan. Its unique angle is its open-door policy submissions, allowing new writers to try to get their gags broadcast. Radio 4 Extra, 10.30pm

Thursday March 6

LIVE IN LONDON:Julian Clary selflessly tries to plug the dangerous shortage of gay men hosting chat shows with his new Canned Clary project at St James’s Theatre , every Thursday and Friday night in  March. No guests have yet been announced, but he promises a ‘intimate, queerish show’.

Friday March 7

LIVE IN EDINBURGH: The Gilded Comedy Gala, an event celebrating 100 years of Edinburgh’s Usher Hall, features Dylan Moran, Rich Hall Phill Jupitus, Barry Cryer, Greg McHugh as Gary: Tank Commander and compere Arthur Smith.

Saturday March 8

RADIO:  A welcome rerun of series 1 and 2 of The Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy starts today 36 years, to the day since Douglas Adams’s sci-fi comedy classic first broadcast in its original radio incarnation. It stars Peter Jones, Simon Jones, Geoffrey McGivern and Jo Kendall. Radio 4 Extra, 6pm

RADIO: Stand-up  Alistair Barrie introduces John Lloyd, the producer of Blackadder, Spitting Image and QI, as well as fellow comedians Mary Bourke, John Robins, Nish Kumar and Bob Mills in an episode of 4 Extra Stands Up,  recorded at the Pleasance in London. Radio 4 Extra, 10pm

Published: 2 Mar 2014