The comedy week ahead

The comedy week ahead.

Monday April 25

TV: Channel 4's dark and funny new comedy Flowers is being stripped over every night this week, starting with a double bill. Starring Julian Barratt and Olivia Colman as children's author Maurice and his music teacher wife Deborah, it tells of an eccentric and dysfunctional family struggling to hold themselves together. It has been written and directed by Will Sharpe, who was Bafta-nominated for his haunting 2011 movie Black Pond, which starred Chris Langham and Simon Amstell.
LIVE IN LONDON: Mark Thomas begins a two-week run of his political stand-up show, Trespass, at the Tricycle Theatre in Kilburn. It's about the corporate take-over of public space that's sure to leave you with both a sense of injustice… and an urge to make mischief with the rules. Review.

Wednesday April 26

LIVE IN CANTERBURY:The Marlowe Theatre plays host to the best of the new generation of stand-up talent in the simply-named Alternative Comedy Show. Come witness mild-mannered musical whimsy from David Elms, fire-in-the-belly social politics from Liam Williams, playful Matthew Crosby, and self-analytical Sofie Hagen.

Wednesday April 27

LIVE IN LONDON: In I Loved Her, Jessie Cave – aka Lavender Brown in the Harry Potter films – lays bare her insecurities. It's a one-woman show about the shock of becoming pregnant after a one-night stand… and subsequently embarking on a relationship with the baby's father (fellow stand-up Alfie Brown). Udderbelly South Bank, 9pm

Thursday April 28

LIVE IN HARROGATE: Fake It Til You Make It, Bryony Kimmings and Tim Grayburn's theatrical but personal look at depression, from the funny to the poignant, continues its UK tour with two nights at the Harrogate Theatre. Review and further dates.

Friday April 29

TV: Bellamy's People, the TV spin-off from Radio 4's Down The Line spoof phone-in, gets a rerun on Gold. Rhys Thomas stars as Gary Bellamy, travelling Britain to meet eccentric characters, played by the likes of Simon Day, Amelia Bullmore, Felix Dexter, Paul Whitehouse and Charlie Higson. Gold. 10.15pm

RADIO: Alex Lowe's Barry From Watford alter-ego gets his own radio show, after calling in to countless others. Barry's Lunch Club is described as a hybrid of stand-up and sitcom, as the 82-year-old character invites an audience to his weekly Lunch club where he scrutinises themes close to his heart. The show,which Lowe co-wrote with producer Alex Walsh-Taylor, also features Stephanie Cole as club secretary Hilary and Philip Pope as club treasurer. In episode one, Travel, Barry responds to a question about travel for the over 60s and relates his disastrous holiday experiences on a cruise ship and at an activity holiday.Radio 4, 11.30am

RADIO: Radio 4 Extra will be running interviews with the likes of Mark Watson, Bridget Christie, Isy Suttie and John Shuttleworth as it marks the Machynlleth comedy festival, alongside a series of repeats from of radio shows from performersat this year's event. Arthur Smith hosts. Radio 4 Extra, 10pm

Saturday April 30

TV: Bill Hicks's seminal stand-up show Revelations, filmed at the Dominion Theatre in London in 1993, the year before his death at the age of 32, gets an airing on Gold. 11pm.

Published: 24 Apr 2016