The best of the week's live comedy

The week ahead in live comedy.

Sunday July 2

SHEFFIELD: The New Barrack Tavern is holding an ‘all-dayer’ with six Edinburgh previews for a bargain £6. And that’s in total, not each. Britain’s Got Talent star Jonny Awsum and former BBC New Comedy winner Steve Bugeja are among those performing their solo shows...and it all kicks off at 2pm.

SALFORD: Eddie Izzard is at the Lowry for a book tour to tie in with his memoirs: Believe Me: A Memoir of Love, Death and Jazz Chickens. He’s also at the Richmond Theatre in South West London on Tuesday and Edinburgh’s EICC on Thursday.

Tuesday July 4

LONDON: Al Murray headlines Stand Up For Satire, a benefit for Index on Censorship, whose fight for free speech around the world should be close to most comedians’ hearts. The charity has long championed comedians, cartoonists and others facing threats of persecution, violence and even death. The fine line-up tonight also includes Dane Baptiste, Felicity Ward,Kerry Godliman and Tim Key.

LONDON: Key and Ward are both also appearing in another benefit tonight, Laugh Till It Hurts in aid of MacMillan Cancer Support at the Leicester Square Theatre. There they will be joined by Andrew Lawrence, Joe Wilkinson, Kevin Eldon, Stewart Francis and Rich Wilson, making for an eclectic bill.

LONDON: After a couple of nights’ respite, the Balham Comedy Festival picks up again, with Phil Nichol and Rich Hall performing two separate shows tonight.

Wednesday July 5

LONDON: Catastrophe co-star and co-writer Rob Delaney gets his Meat out at the Leicester Square Theatre over the next ten days. Meat, of course, being the name of his stand-up show. Read our review of the show when in played the South Bank a couple of years back here.

Thursday July 6

CARDIGAN: Cardigan Castle is hosting a weekend of comedy in its historic grounds, including the likes of Phill Jupitus, Jeremy Hardy, Barbara Nice and,kicking things off tonight, Noel James (pictured) and Mike Bubbins.

BRIGHTON: They are still only previews, but you can’t go far wrong with Carey Marx or Phil Nichol, even in work-in-progress mode. Both will be running through their impending Edinburgh shows at the Komedia tonight,

Friday July 7

LONDON: The Boat Show, the comedy night that floats on the permanently-moored Tattershall Castle, boasts a great line-up this weekend, including impish social-political comment from Andrew Maxwell, and spirited self-deprecation from both Larry Dean and Lauren Pattison. It’s the same bill tomorrow, too.

BROMSGROVE: It’s bullying, really, and we shouldn’t condone it… But Barry Cryer will be making disparaging comments about I’m Sorry I Haven’t A Clue pianist Colin Sell when the pair appear at the Artix tonight. Expect tall tales and plenty of puns amid the insults.

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Published: 2 Jul 2017