The best of the comedy week ahead

The best of the comedy week ahead.

NOTE THAT SINCE THIS ARTICLE APPEARED THE BROADCAST DATE FOR CAMPING HAS BEEN PUT BACK TO APRUL 12

Sunday April 3

TV: Lee Mack returns to Sky 1 with another series of Duck Quacks Don't Echo, putting bizarre theories to the test. First guests are Dara O Briain, Davina McCall and Jessica Hynes while, later in the series, Rhod Gilbert, Hugh Dennis, Jimmy Carr and Catherine Tate pop in. 8pm

RADIO: Rich Hall might have spent the last 20 years living in London, but he grew up south of the Mason Dixie Line. Now he heads to America's Deep South to see if the notion of 'Southern hospitality' has survived the decade. He finds himself drinking on the porch with some Southern belles, conducting an experiment in courtesy at the side of the road, and finds out what happens when you poke an alligator with a big stick. In Search Of Southern Hospitality, Radio 4, 1.30pm.

RADIO: Frank Skinner says he devised the comedy discussion show The Rest Is History to feed his passion for - but ignorance of - the past. Along with his historian in residence, Professor Kate Williams, the guests on this first show are Katy Brand and Pierre Novellie, who discuss Hodge, the cat belonging to Doctor Samuel Pepys; Lord Nelson and Lady Hamilton; and the Lyme Missal, the prayer book printed by Caxton. Radio 4, 7.15pm

LIVE IN BATH: The city's comedy festival continues all week, with today's highlights including Comic Strip big cheese Peter Richardson marking 35 years of his anarchic films at the Little Theatre (from 5pm), and sharp-minded stand-up Nick Doody on at the Brew House at 6pm.

LIVE IN WELLS: Still in Somerset, there's a very eclectic treat at the Long Paws comedy club tonight, as physical comedy maestro Trygve Wakenshaw joins self-deprecating smartiepants Ivo Graham, hotly tipped character comic Lolly Adefope and Chortle-award-winning best MC Jarred Christmas to host.

Monday April 4

LIVE IN LONDON: Ever-inventive writer John-Luke Roberts brings his show about his late father, Stdad-Up, to the Soho Theatre for the week.. And this time he has the performance techniques he picked up at the Gaulier clown school, too. There's a very theatrical tone to the show, playing on the father-son strain to create a tense atmosphere, released by a grand silly gesture.

Tuesday April 5

TV: Julia Davis's new comedy Camping pitches up on Sky Atlantic with the first two of six episodes. As well as writing and starring, the Nighty Night and Hunderby creator makes her series directing debut with this tale of a couples' camping trip that descends into derangement and debauchery. Steve Pemberton stars as the put-upon Robin, whose wife Fiona (Vicki Pepperdine) decides to celebrate his 50th birthday by organising a camping weekend. But her plans are thrown off course by the arrival of the recently separated Tom (Rufus Jones) and his uninhibited new partner Fay (Davis). 10pm

Wednesday April 6

RADIO: Paul Whitehouse's Nurse, about a community mental health nurse on her rounds, returns to BBC Radio 4 for a second series after its brief foray into TV. Whitehouse, who wrote the show with David Cummings, plays an obese, bed-bound mummy's boy; an agoraphobic ex-con; a manic ex-glam rock star; ageing rake Herbert; a Jewish chatterbox in unrequited love with his Jamaican neighbour; and new characters including a self-proclaimed DJ and a Geordie struggling with his wife's job as a prostitute. Esther Coles returns as the titular character, with Margaret Cabourn-Smith, Rosie Cavaliero and Charlie Higson among the supporting cast.

Thursday April 7

LIVE IN BATH: Pick of the comedy festival tonight is brilliantly silly physical comic Spencer Jones at the Ring O Bells – guaranteed laughs even if the phrase 'physical comic' brings you out in hives... It's in a double-bill with Lewis Schaffer's intense You Are Beautiful.

Friday April 8

LIVE IN LONDON: Bridget Christie brings a 'best of' set to the Soho Theatre tonight and tomorrow, as she works up the best of her absurdist-feminist material for a forthcoming DVD release.

Saturday April 9

LIVE IN BRISTOL: Acclaimed show, hometown gig - should be a doozy for Radio X's John Robins, whose Speakeasy show binds entertaining anecdotes to a strong underpinning theme about the versions of ourselves we project online. He's at the Hen and Chicken tonight.

For full listings, use the pull-down menus at the top of the page to see what's on near you on any given day.

Published: 3 Apr 2016