The best of the week's live comedy

The best of this week's live comedy.

Monday September 11

LONDON: Two of this year's Edinburgh Comedy Award nominees, Jordan Brookes and Mat Ewins, join best newcomer nominee Lauren Pattison and highly acclaimed Adam Riches and Rose Matafeo for Laugh Out London's Pick Of The Fringe at the Old Queens Head in Islington, starting at 8pm tonight. A bargain for £7 on the door or £5 in advance.

LONDON: In Cactus, Adam Hess offers a breathless delivery of a ludicrous story, sprayed with inventively silly one-liners, as is his trademark. Fresh from the Edinburgh Fringe, it's at the Soho theatre all week. Review

LONDON:The second comedy night at Pizza Express's plush new venue in Holborn features Harry Hill, with back-up from Ben Norris and compere Adam Bloom.

Tuesday September 12

MANCHESTER: The Stoller Hall, a new concert venue in Chetham's School of Music, is an apt location for Kieran Hodgson to give his acclaimed, Edinburgh Comedy award-nominated Maestro another run-out. The virtuoso show tells the story of his youthful romantic yearnings though his attempts to write a symphony.

Wednesday September 13

LONDON: Greenwich Comedy Festival returns to the National Maritime Museum from tonight until Sunday. Highlights include Dara O'Briain, Alan Davies, Adam Hills, Ed Byrne, Joe Lycett and more. Website.

EDINBURGH: It's not often you get a chance to see Dylan Moran for a fiver, but he's topping a bargain-priced benefit at The Stand for education charity Super Power Agency.

HULL: Rich Hall begins another tour of his rootin', tootin' foot-stompin' Hoedown, which begins as a withering dissection of Trump's America, but ends up being a celebration of Americana. Here is the full schedule.

Thursday September 14

LONDON: Laura Davis is one of the most interesting and distinctive stand-ups to come out of Australia in recent years. Well, we say 'come out of…' – her visit to the Edinburgh Fringe this year was the first time she's ever left the country. Her show Cake In The Rain offers a unique take on awkward issues from her experience of depression to impending apocalypse. She plays the Soho Theatre for three nights from tonight.

DEAL: Comic author Kathy Lette kicks her first ever live comedy tour in Kent. The show, Girl's Night Out, is billed as 'a psychological striptease... with tales of love, lust, men, marriage, pregnancy, childbirth, mastitis, sexist bosses, teenage-daughter-wrangling, ageing, toy boys, making the Queen laugh, hiding Julian Assange in her attic, tongue kissing Prince William and Close Encounters of the George Clooney Kind'. All the dates are here

COLCHESTER: Nathan Caton kicks off a tour, The Pursuit Of Happyness, at Colchester Arts Centre. Dates

Friday September 15

LONDON: John Kearns's unique new show, Don't Worry They're Here, starts a two-week run at the Soho Theatre. It's a nuanced character study of a slightly lonely, slightly anxious man at odds with the modern world, wistfully wishing things were different. That doesn't sound so funny, but it's not far from the likes of Tony Hancock - and you don't win both Edinburgh Comedy Awards without wringing the wit out of a situation. Review

CHIPPING NORTON: There's a very strong line-up at the Chipping Norton Theatre tonight as Lloyd Langford, Mark Steel, Miles Jupp and Pippa Evans gather to raise money for the local Lawrence Home Nursing Team.

Saturday September 16

LONDON: The Objectively Funny Festival will feature 42 shows from now until September 26 at The Albany on Great Portland Street. Headliners include Phil Kay, Joseph Morpurgo, Tez Ilyas Tiff Stevenson, Jordan Brookes and Elf Lyons. Full line-up is here.

STAINES: Four sterling comedy circuit regulars bring the laughs to a marquee erected in the Market Square: Dominic Holland, Lucy Porter, Richard Morton and MC Maff Brown will be doing the business.

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Published: 10 Sep 2017