Don't spare the Rhod

The best of the week's live comedy

Monday January 28

LONDON: Daniel Kitson hosts a comedy fundraiser in the Grand Hall of the Battersea Arts Centre - where he is currently performing his new show Keep. Featuring Nish Kumar and Bridget Christie, the gig is raising money for the venue, which was hit by a fire in 2015.

LONDON: Deadpan Sarah Keyworth made waves with her solo debut last Edinburgh – an examination of gender expectations inspired by the two children she nannied, Baxter and Roly, but also her own experiences as a tomboyish lesbian. She’s at the Soho Theatre all week. Review

Thursday January 31

EDINBURGH: There's a good bill at The Stand all this weekend, from the charming observational whimsy of Tom Wrigglesworth to the more ebullient anecdotes of Aussie Damian Clark and Nothumberland's Kai Humphries.

Friday February 1

LEEDS: Glenn Wool starts his new tour, Wool’s Gold II (The Iron Pirate), at the Sheaf Street Cafeteria. The show is a retrospective look at the Vancouver-born comedian’s 25 years on the stand-up scene, revisiting some of his greatest hits to see whether he still agrees with his early points of view. Telly appearances include John Oliver’s New York Stand-Up Show, Never Mind the Buzzcocks and Russell Howard’s Good News - but he’s always been best live. Dates.

Saturday February 2

WREXHAM: Rhod Gilbert is back for his first tour in six years, The Book of John. It kicks off at the William Aston Hall tonight and will be keeping him busy until the end of July. The premise is that it has been a pretty dire six years, but just when he thought he’d hit rock bottom, he met a bloke called John. The tour dates are here

HEMEL HEMPSTEAD: Lucy Porter launches her tour of her 12th solo show, examining what we have inherited from our parents and what will we pass on… a subject that became her focus after losing both her parents. It’s also the subject of a forthcoming Radio 4 one-off. Click here for the tour dates.

LONDON: Consummate observational comic Brian Regan – known in the US for his clean, self-deprecating humour – is playing a one-off UK date at Leicester Square Theatre. His four-part sketch and stand-up show Stand Up and Away!just launched on Netflix.

DARWEN: An appealing and diverse bill in the Library Theatre tonight, from Bobby Mair embracing his chaotic life to the ultra-precise comedy of the superior John Moloney, and from the quirky stories of Hull's Lucy Beaumont to the more everywoman observations of Jessica Fostekew, struggling with motherhood.

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Published: 27 Jan 2019