The comedy week ahead

The comedy week ahead…

Monday  January 12

LIVE IN LONDON: It's unusual to for us to mention a 'work in progress' show in this weekly round-up, but the Pleasance has a raft of them kicking off today. And while some might be very early prototypes of Edinburgh shows, the programme also boasts the sort of comics who are almost guaranteed to be good - or at least more than worth the discount admissions – even in developing material. Sean Lock kicks off the season, which also includes Alan Carr, Josh Widdicombe and Nick Helm … plus a load more acts that might prove more of a crap shoot. Take your chances!

LIVE IN LONDON: Last Edinburgh, we called the smart, sassy and funny Nish Kumar 'the Asian answer to John Oliver'. Find out why as he revives that Fringe show, pompously titled Ruminations On The Nature Of Subjectivity, at the Soho Theatre all week. Our Fringe review

TV: American series Drunk History gets a UK remake for Comedy Central, with  comedians getting very drunk before telling a true historical story they are passionate about. It's narrated by Jimmy Carr and some of the comedians featured this week include Mathew Horne, Dustin Demri-Burns, Simon Bird, Rob Beckett, Tom Rosenthal, Alex Horn and Marc Wooton. 10pm

TV: Lena Dunham's acclaimed comedy Girls returns to Sky Atlantic for its fourth series, as her character enrols in a writing course at the University Of Iowa. It airs at 10pm, just one day after its American broadcast on HBO:

Tuesday  January 13

LIVE IN LONDON: After freeing himself from his duties on The Apprentice: You're Fired! to concentrate on his stand-up, Dara O Briain starts his Crowd Tickler tour at the Beck Theatre in Hayes, West London, followed by Dunstable and St Albans on the subsequent two days, then much of the rest of the country, …for much of the rest of the year. Dates.

LIVE IN LONDON: You can experience a double-bill of a couple of the most talked-about Edinburgh shows upstairs at the Soho Theatre for the rest of the week, courtesy of spiky sketch group Gein's Family Giftshop at 7pm, and best newcomer winner Alex Edelman at 8.30pm.

Wednesday  January 14

LIVE IN BELFAST: Making long-form improv fashionable, Austentatious start their UK tour, making up full Jane Austen stories on the fly based only on an audience suggestion for a title. The first date is at Belfast's Black Box - click here for the rest.

LIVE IN LONDON: Some of the circuit's best female comedians stage a benefit for domestic charity Refuge at Kings Place in Kings Cross tonight. The line-up includes Bridget Christie, Ellie Taylor, Lucy Porter, Luisa Omielan, Pippa Evans, Roisin Conaty and Sara Pascoe.

LIVE IN HARROGATE: The deliciously sardonic Simon Evans headlines at the Sitting Room tonight. Plus you get a revealing insight into the police offered by copper-turned-comic Alfie Brown, plus a couple of the most promising newer acts in support: Scott Bennett and former Chortle Student Comedy Award runner-up Johnny Pelham.

Thursday January 15

LIVE IN LONDON: Another benefit, this one in aid of PBH's Free Fringe, at the Bloomsbury Theatre. Highlights include the insanity of Terry Alderton and the curiosity of Robin Ince (as in he has curiosity, not that he is one).

Friday January 16

RADIO A nicely obscure oddity this - Radio Five, conceived by Eric Idle for Radio 1 back in 1973 when the idea of a fifth national radio station was clearly still the stuff of comic fantasy, 18 years away from reality. An hour-long music and comedy show, it was Idle's first post-Python solo venture, predating Rutland Weekend Television by a year. Idle links his eclectic choice of music with self-penned sketches, for which he provides all of the voices. Sketches include: unusual ways to join the Radio Five Club and the latest headlines from The World at Radio One – plus a weatherman who can't quite manage to sign off his bulletin. Radio 4 Extra, 11pm

Saturday January 17

LIVE IN SALFORD:  Another day, another tour gets under way. This time the dry wit of Alun Cochrane starts his smartly-titled (Me Neither) tour at the Lowry. Dates.

LIVE IN SOUTHAMPTON: The Nuffield Theatre offer an appealing bill tonight, with the resolutely middle-class Hal Cruttenden, the bold silliness of Jarred Christmas, and increasingly funny Holly Walsh.

Published: 11 Jan 2015