The best of the week's live comedy

The best of the week's live comedy.

Sunday June 25

LONDON: It's the perfect appetiser for Edinburgh, as 28 Fringe-bound comedy and variety acts perform bite-sized extracts from their shows in Chortle's Fast Fringe, hosted by Arthur Smith. The eclectic range of acts on the bill at the Leicester Square Theatre include festival favourites Late Night Gimp Fight, Britain's Got Talent star Jonny Awsum and Dominic Holland, making his return to the Fringe after an 11-year absence. Not to mention The Elvis Dead – which reinterprets the cult classic horror movie Evil Dead 2 through the songs of Elvis Presley – and stand-ups including Carl Donnelly, Rose Matefeo, Loyiso Gola and Christian Reilly. Tickets.

MANCHESTER: The Frog and Bucket is hosting A City United, a fundraising stand-up night in aid of the victims of the Manchester terror attack. The bill includes Britain's Got Talent finalist Daliso Chaponda alongside Mick Ferry, Phil Ellis and more.

Monday June 26

LONDON: Kiri Pritchard-McLean tackled #everydaysexism in Hysterical Woman, a show she'd rather not have done at all given that it's based on drip-drip-drip of prejudice she experiences as a comic who's also a woman. So it is a show with a message, but she also keeps things solidly funny - the main step in achieving her goal of being judged on her jokes not her gender. She has a three-night run at Soho Theatre.

LIVERPOOL: Tommy Cooper lives! Or at least you might believe it to be true as Daniel Taylor revives the comedy icon in his one-man stage show, running all week at the Epstein Theatre.

Tuesday June 27

LONDON: Some of comedy's biggest stars are coming out for this fundraiser for the Grenfell Tower victims, held at the Eventim Apollo just two miles from the scene of the tragedy. It's sold out, so will raise tens of thousands of pounds for the cause. The full line-up is: Adam Hills, Alan Carr, Jo Brand, Jon Richardson, Josh Widdicombe, Katherine Ryan, Kevin Bridges, Michael McIntyre, Micky Flanagan, Rob Beckett, Russell Kane and Seann Walsh.

Wednesday June 28

LONDON: Mark Steel is to become the first stand-up to perform a solo show at Shakespeare's Globe when he brings his Who Do I Think I Am? show to the Thames-side venue. He will not be playing in the reconstructed Elizabethan Theatre (which has hosted the Comedy Store Players improv troupe several times) but in the indoor Sam Wannamaker Playhouse next door. Still, the candlelit venue should prove an atmospheric backdrop to the startling tale of what he discovered when he traced his family tree.

Thursday June 29

LONDON: The Balham Comedy Festival kicks off tonight at the Bedford club, home of the weekly Banana Cabaret. Its impressive line-up ranges from Sara Pascoe to Joe Pasquale, with Jason Manford, Ed Byrne, Stephen K Amos, Jeremy Hardy, Joe Lycett and more. The festival is now in its sixth year and offers work in progress and Edinburgh preview shows, as well as 'Best of Banana Cabaret' line-up shows. Click here for the full line-up

Friday June 30

STOCKTON: Acerbically sharp Nick Doody and the loop-pedal hip-hop comedy of Vince Atta make for an appealing chalk-and-cheese bill at the Arc, held together by charmer Danny McLoughlin.

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Published: 25 Jun 2017