The comedy week ahead

The comedy week ahead.

Sunday November 29

LIVE IN LONDON: THE UK Jewish Comedy Festival kicks off at the JW3 community centre with an opening gala featuring Mark Maier, Steve Best, Andrea Hubert and Sol Bernstein. Other highlights over the week include a wiz through Woody Allen's films on Tuesday, the final of the Jewish Comedian Of The Year competition on Saturday and a Friday night dinner with the actual cast of Friday Night Dinner. Website

LIVE IN LONDON: It's the final of the Leicester Square Theatre New Comedian Of The Year with Angus Dunican, Bilal Zafar, George Lewis, Jamie W, Jethro Bradley, Jo D'Arcy, Joe Jacobs, LJ Da Funk, Louise Reay, Luca Cupani, Nigel Ng, Olaf Falafel, Svetlana the Oligarch's Wife and Yuriko Kotani

Monday November 30

LIVE IN LONDON: Nina Conti is to make her West End debut, performing her largely improvised ventriloquism show In Your Face at the Lyric Shaftesbury Avenue as part of a nationwide tour.

RADIO: I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue returns to Radio 4 for its incredible 64th series, with Barry Cryer, Graeme Garden, Tim Brooke-Taylor and Tony Hawks being given silly things to do by Jack Dee. 6.30pm

Tuesday December 1

LIVE IN LONDON: Will Adamsdale revamps his strange spoof positive thinking seminar Jackson's Way for a new Christmas run at the Battersea Arts Centre. Come learn how to achieve, from tonight until the 12th

LIVE IN LONDON: Paul Merton for just £7? The Have I Got News For You star joins his improv chums Lee Simpson, Paul Richard Vranch and Suki Webster for the new format The Guest Speaker, in which the comedians must make up a speech on the fly. It's at The Miller near London Bridge station.

Wednesday December 2

LIVE IN CARDIGAN: Sean Lock is doing some work in progress gigs towards his next tour, to be entitled Keep It Light. He's at Cardigan's Theatr Mwldan tonight and Pontardawe Arts Centre tomorrow.

Thursday December 3

TV: Frank Skinner co-presents a look at the music hall in the first of a three-part documentary What A Performance! Pioneers Of Popular Entertainment. In this hour-long episode they discover more about big household names such as Marie Lloyd, Champagne Charlie and Dan Leno. Not only do Skinner and music broadcaster and presenter Suzy Klein dig into the history, but they also study the acts and try their hand at performing them… BBC Four, 10pm

RADIO: Christopher Green's comic creation, country music star Tina C, is bringing her autobiography to Radio 4, with this first episode of HerStory looking back at her childhood, as reflected in her songs such as Don't Be Afraid To Start Crying and Tramp On A Trampoline show.6.30pm

LIVE IN LONDON: It's the first night of shows at the Grotto, aka the HoHo Theatre, the festive pop-up venue subversively nestling amid the City banks and offering a distinctly alternative vibe. And it gets off to a cracking start, too, with a double bill of offbeat muso Boothby Graffoe and Richard Herring's latest stand-up show, Happy Now?. Full listings

LIVE IN BATH: James Acaster brings his latest show Represent – the fourth of his in a row to be nominated for the Edinburgh Comedy Award and rightfully so – to the Rondo Theatre.

Friday December 4

AUDIO: A posthumous album from American comic Patrice O'Neal is released today. The Lost Files: Circa 2005 contains more than a hour of material, including such provocative tracks as 'Women Don't Know How To Be Funny' and 'I Like Being Racist'. Preorder the digital album.

LIVE IN COVENTRY: Former Chortle Student Comedy Award winner Adam Hess made a sterling debut at Edinburgh this year with his stand-up show Salmon, which hits the Warwick Arts Centre tonight.

Saturday December 5

LIVE IN FOLKESTONE: A fantastic club night at the Dance Easy Club features fretful 8 Our Of 10 Cats star Jon Richardson, quirky observational comic Lloyd Langford and skilled resident host Dan Atkinson, plus a couple of newer acts.

Published: 29 Nov 2015