A tight 5: April 20

Limmy is to perform at this year’s Edinburgh Fringe. He will be at the EICC for four nights from August 18, reading from his anthology Daft Wee Stories, followed by a Q&A session. The shows come ahead of the publication of the paperback edition of his book in September – but the new version will be sold at the Edinburgh performances. Tickets go on sale tomorrow.

Reggie Watts has announced a date at London’s South Bank Centre. The musical comic – leader of the house band on The Late Late Show with James Corden in the US – will be playing the Royal Festival Hall on July 16, the same day as he’s performing at the Latitude Festival, as previously announced on Chortle.

ORGANISERS of the Golden Globes awards have tweaked their guidelines to ensure that genuine comedy movies win the comedy accolade. The change follows bewilderment that Matt Damon’s The Martian won the best music and comedy category this year. New rules from the Hollywood Foreign Press Association say: ‘Dramas with comedic overtones should be entered as dramas.’

MIDDLESBROUGH is to get its a new comedy festival, with a stage set up in Stewart Park on July 16 and 17. Gary Delaney, Paul Sinha, The Boy With Tape On His Face and Justin Moorhouse are among the acts announced for the Monkeyshine festival, with Jason Cook and Matt Reed compering. However, it’s not cheap – with tickets priced at £76 a day, including booking fee, about the same daily rate as Glastonbury.

COMEDY CENTRAL is launching in the Middle East and North Africa, with shows such as The Daily Show With Trevor Noah, Lip Sync Battle and South Park being available on subscription satellite channel OSN from May.

Published: 20 Apr 2016