The best of the comedy week ahead

The best of the comedy week ahead.

Monday February 15

COMEDY IN GLASGOW: The Chortle Student Comedy Award charabanc gets on the road again, unearthing the best new comedians. Our quest starts at the Queen Margaret Union tonight, hosted by Scott Agnew, followed by St Andrews Uni tomorrow, hosted by Keara Murphy.

COMEDY IN LONDON: The PBJ agency begin a week-long run of gigs at the Bush Theatre, Shepherds Bush, starting with a Mark Dolan/Rory Bremner double bill. Wednesday it's Adam Buxton; Thursday Jen Brister, Mae Martin, Sarah Kendall, Sofie Hagen; Thursday Noel Fielding and friends; Saturday John Kearns, Lolly Adefope, Suzi Ruffell and Tim Key.

COMEDY IN LONDON: Never mind the peculiar hipstery title, Aussie comic Nick Cody's Beard Game Strong is a great mix of comedy from the perspective of both a blue-collar chap and spoilt urbanite unable to function in the real world. He's at the Soho Theatre until February 27. Click here for our review.

COMEDY IN LEICESTER: The city's comedy festival is in its final week and tonight's highlights include the improvised Jane Austen novel Ostentatious at The Y and comedy magician Pete Firman at the Firebug.

Tuesday February 16

TV: Alan Partridge is back! A second series of Mid Morning Matters launches on Sky Atlantic, and as the man himself says it involves the union of two powerful ideas: 'Believe in Better' (Sky) and 'Be the Best' (Alan Partridge). He said: 'Two compelling brands with two equally valid mission statements, although if we're being honest 'believing in better' isn't as impressive as "being the best". ("Being" feels more emphatic than just "believing" while the "best" is by definition one up from "better") I'm not going to get into a debate about it though. That's part of what "being the best" is. Thank you for your time and I urge you to enjoy the series.' Sky Atlantic, 10pm

TV: Romesh Ranganathan is one of the regulars in ITV's new primetime science-based series It's Not Rocket Science, following in the footsteps of the likes of Duck Quacks Don't Echo. Ben Miller and Rachel Riley are his regular colleagues, while this first episode features Joey Essex … whose brain is enough to power a car. B>ITV 8pm.

ONLINE: Today's the first day BBC Three is online only. Among the shows on offer from day one are series three of Cuckoo, in which Dale (Taylor Lautner) returns to the suburban Tamworth home of Ken (Greg Davies) and Lorna (Helen Baxendale); and the stand-up show Live From the BBC, which to be honest looks not much different from other TV stand-up shows, but features a good crop of interesting up-and-comers, starting with Mae Martin and Nish Kumar.

COMEDY IN LONDON: Two 2016 Chortle Award nominees at the Dogstar in Brixton- newcomer Jordan Brookes, and best show contender Tom Parry - join smart and funny Sara Pascoe and MC Tom Webb

COMEDY IN LONDON: Frankie Boyle plays a rare pub gig, in aid of pancreatic cancer charity, on a bill that also includes Sara Pascoe, dashing from Brixton to the Gorringe Park pub in Tooting (or possibly the other way around)

Wednesday February 17

COMEDY IN LONDON: Another strong bill at 100 Club Presents… as the historic Oxford Street music venue hosts Kevin Eldon, Nick Helm, Nish Kumar and Tom Allen.

COMEDY IN LONDON: Al Murray's in his element: A pub. Or at least the function room behind the Turk's Head in St Margarets, near Twickenham, that's home to the Bearcat Club. Go along for an up-close and personal encounter with the Guv – if you can get a ticket.

Thursday February 18

COMEDY IN CANTERBURY: The best of emerging stand-up at the Marlowe Theatre features reigning BBC New Comedy champ Yuriko Kotani and critically-acclaimed Jordan Brookes (again) alongside the more experienced hands of livewire Felicity Ward and affable Dan Atkinson.

COMEDY IN HOVE: This is an intriguing mash-up as the feels of Festival of the Spoken Nerd share the Old Market stage with Professor Elemental, A Victorian hip-hop artist.

RADIO: Susan Calman exploits the pun Keep Calman Carry On in her new Radio 4 stand-up series in which she tries to take herself out of her cats-and-Playstation comfort zone to try new activities. This week, she goes hillwalking with Muriel Gray, and in later episodes she will watch cricket with Andy Zaltzman, have a spontaneous holiday with John Finnemore and enjoy an art gallery with Phill Jupitus. It owes a debt to I've Never Seen Star Wars, for sure, but is certainly funny in its own right. Radio 4, 6.30pm

Friday February 19

COMEDY IN LONDON: The annual Phoenix Fringe's winter weekend festival gets under way, bringing a mix of big-name works in progress and established hour-long shows to this intimate pub basement near Oxford Circus. It kicks off with Russell Howard and Catastrophe's Rob Delaney trying stuff out, plus Tiff Stevenson's solo offering Man Man. Here are the listings.

COMEDY IN MATLOCK: A homecoming gig for Isy Suttie as she presents The Actual One, a hybrid stand-up and book reading show based on her entertaining new relationship memoirs to the town she grew up in, and which features heavily in the story. The gig's at the Grand Pavilion and kicks off at 8pm. Read our review of the book here

Saturday February 20

COMEDY IN LEICESTER: Johnny Vegas presents a work-in-progress show, entitled Unprepared But Ready, on the penultimate day of the city's comedy festival. Hansom Hall, 6.30pm

RADIO: Kenneth Williams would have been 90 on Monday, and Radio 4 Extra is dedicating a morning to his memory, including classic episodes of Hancock's Half Hour, Round The Horne and Just A Minute. There's also a new programme, On The Trail Of Ramblin' Syd, tracing the origins of his West Country folk singer character - as well as a Syd Rumpole concert recorded in 1970 in front of a live studio audience at Abbey Road Studios. Finally there's a rare piece of Kenneth Williams archive as he offers his interpretation of Nikolai Gogol's Diary of A Mad Man.

• Search our full listings for comedy near you using the pull-down menus at the very top of this page.

Published: 14 Feb 2016