The comedy week ahead

The comedy week ahead…

Monday July 13

LIVE IN MANCHESTER: Tom Basden's adaptation of the absurd Fyodor Dostoevsky short story The Crocodile has its preview performance at the Manchester International Festival, where it runs all week in a world premiere. Simon Bird and Marek Larwood take lead roles in this tale of a self-important actor swallowed whole by a certain amphibian.

LIVE IN LONDON: The Last Leg duo of Adam Hills and Josh Widdicombe lead a strong line-up at the Comedy Store tonight, raising money for the MS Society. Also on the bill, all from the monster Off The Kerb comedy agency, are Romesh Ranganathan, Charlie Baker, Shappi Khorsandi, Suzi Ruffell, Elliot Steel and Andrew Ryan.

LIVE IN LONDON: Piff The Magic Dragon is doing his first London shows in nearly two years at London Wonderground tonight and tomorrow. He's been away in Vegas… and wowing audiences on America's Got Talent as the below clip shows. Meanwhile his canine sidekick Mr Piffles compiled this list of his favourite performing animals for Chortle.

TV: Sky 1's comedy fantasy series Yonderland returns with a double bill, with Martha Howe-Douglas returning as the suburban housewife taken by a friendly elf into a puppet-filled alternate universe. She's reunited with the Horrible Histories crew of Mathew Baynton, Simon Farnaby, Jim Howick, Laurence Rickard and Ben Willbond, who all wrote the script as well as reprising their on-screen roles. 8pm

Wednesday July 15

LIVE IN LONDON: Good news! The star of his own US sitcom is coming to the UK for three nights at the Soho Theatre. Bad news! The show suffered from low ratings and poor critical reviews (often inviting unflattering comparisons with Seinfeld) and was canceled in January. Still great stand-ups can make stinkers of TV show - just ask Jason 'Father Figure' Byrne - and Mulaney has a reputation as a classy live act, hailed by the likes of Variety and Entertainment Weekly.

LIVE IN BIRMINGHAM: Glenn Wool and the underrated Stuart Black both preview their Edinburgh shows in a free gig at the Patrick Kavanagh in Moseley.

TV: Armando Iannucci's sharply observed political comedy Veep returns for a fourth series, as Selina (Julia Louis Dreyfus) prepares to make her inaugural speech to the Joint Session, of the of the United States Congress. This opening episode is directed by Chris Addison. Sky Atlantic, 10.10pm

TV: People Just Do Nothing returns to BBC Three for a second series of the mockumentary following the people behind West London's second most popular pirate radio station, Kurupt FM. 10pm

Thursday July 16

LIVE IN BIRMINGHAM: Luisa Omielan's UK tour of her celebratory Am I Right Ladies?! show is winding down, with a performance at the Birmingham Glee tonight – and her biggest ever show at London's Bloomsbury Theatre on Saturday.

RADIO: Not comedy, but Stewart Lee shares another of his passions, musical, free improvisation, in the Radio 4 documentary In The Moment. 11.30am

Friday July 17

LIVE IN LONDON: The Ealing Comedy Festival kicks off with a rare performance by Julian Clary, standing proud atop a bill that includes Justin Moorhouse, Mickey Hutton and Shappi Khorsandi. Held in a marquee in Lammas Park, it's got the feel of one of the big outdoor festivals, but without the crowds.

LIVE IN MILTON KEYNES: The land of the concrete cows gets its own comedy festival, too, kicking off with this gala at the Westbury Arts Centre headlined by Richard Herring and also featuring Mark Smith, Tommy Rowson, and MC Jarlath Regan.

LIVE IN POCKLINGTON: A big bill for a small town as Pub Landlord Al Murray brings his Summer Saloon to Yorkshire, where he's joined by the fine stand-up talents of Chris Ramsey and Craig Campbell.

Published: 12 Jul 2015