Kilkenny festival and the rest of the comedy week ahead

The comedy week ahead.

Sunday May 29

TV: Channel 4's Comedy Gala, in aid of Great Ormond Street Hospital Children's Charity, returns to the telly for a seventh year. The line-up at London's O2 Arena includes Alan Carr, Sean Lock, Rob Beckett, Aisling Be a, Kevin Bridges and more. 9pm

Monday May 30

TV: Alan Partridge is back in a new one-off special Alan Partridge's Scissored Isle in which he attempts to make amends after a controversial on-air incident by connect withing the very people he had offended. Like Boris Johnson did with Liverpool, we guess… Sky Atlantic, 10.35pm

Tuesday May 31

LIVE IN LONDON: Kevin Eldon, Josie Long and Simon Munnery are the Alternative Comedy Trio in a very short tour of leftfield comedy that kicks off at the Udderbelly on the South Bank tonight, before visiting the Manchester Dancehouse tomorrow and Bristol's Colston Hall on Thursday.

Thursday June 2

RADIO: Simon Rich has been Saturday Night Live's youngest writer, a staff writer for Pixar and a regular contributor to The New Yorker. Now he brings his absurd world to radio with his first British comedy show, with a series of short stories from the design of the universe and prehistoric love triangles to the terrors of life as an unused condom inside a teenager's wallet. Helping bring The Word Of Simon Rich to life are Peter Serafinowicz, Tim Key, Cariad Lloyd, Jamie Demetriou, Joseph Morpurgo and Claire Price. Radio 4, 11pm

TV: Neil Gaiman's Likely Stories concludes with a couple of episodes, including Closing Time, starring Johnny Vegas as Daniel, a raconteur, a writer and late-night barfly who takes to the drinking dens of Soho. Here he talks about the show.

LIVE IN KILKENNY: It's Cat Laughs time again as Ireland's most-loved comedy festival returns.Comedians taking part in the 22nd year of the festival include David O'Doherty,James Acaster, Jason Manford, Adam Hills, Reginald D Hunter, Rich Hall, Dom Irrera, Glenn Wool, Andrew Maxwell and Sean Hughes. Maeve Higgins will be flying in from New York to perform her first stand-up in her homeland in nearly a year, and Moone Boy star Deirdre O'Kane,will be performing her new solo stand-up show. The festival also includes a 'goes to the races' event, with comedians commenting on the action at the local horse racing track. Festival website.

Saturday June 3

LIVE IN WELLS: The weekend-long Wells Comedy Festival starts here with a top-notch gala show featuring Edinburgh Comedy Award winner Sam Simmons, equally bonkers Lou Sanders, the brain-nourishing Robin Ince, everyman idiot Ed Gamble, and grizzled veteran Arthur Smith as MC. At the Little Theatre. Stewart Lee, Robert Newman, Spencer Jones, Sara Pascoe and Bridget Christie are among the embarrassment of acclaimed acts visiting over the three days. Website.

Saturday June 4

LIVE IN LEEDS: Today is the start of the city's comedy festival – 29 shows over the week, many of them Edinburgh previews, kicking off with 'card ninja' Javier Jarquin at 5pm, and Nick Helm: The Man, The Myth, The Legend at 8pm; both at the Wardrobe. Website.

• 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: 29 May 2016