The best of the week's live comedy

The best of the week's live comedy - which should from tomorrow be free of Covid restrictions in England, depending on the venue's own policies.  Use Chortle's search panel to check out our full listings of more than 6,000 events by date and region.

Sunday July 18

LONDON: Austentatious begin a Sunday residency at London Wonderground, the festival being staged by Underbelly on the site of the former Earls Court Exhibition Centre. In each show the team improvise a full story in the style of Jane Austen based on title suggested by the audience. Previous tales include Austen Powers: License to Quill, Dirty Darcying, Jane of Thrones and Tinderella.

LONDON: As comedians slowly try to remember what the hell it was they used to do,  the Country Mile Comedy Club hosts a two-week festival of works in progress to help them get back into the swing of things. It's at the Star of Kings in Kings Cross and kicks off tonight with Sara Barron and Sean McLoughlin. Full listings

Monday July 19

LEEDS: After some low-key work-in-progress shows, Sarah Millican properly kicks off her massive new tour, Bobby Dazzler, in Leeds. According to the blurb 'you'll learn about what happens when your mouth seals shut, how to throw poo over a wall, trying to lose weight but only losing the tip of your finger, a surprisingly funny smear test, and how truly awful a floatation tank can actually be'. Her sixth national tour, it runs until December 2022! Dates. 

LONDON: The Alternative Comedy Memorial Society returns to Signature Brew Haggerston with every act striving to be as  inventive as they can. The line-up tonight includes  Alexis Dubus, Elf Lyons, Ken Cheng, Thom Tuck and John-Luke Roberts.

Wednesday July 21

LINCOLN: Frank Skinner starts his rescheduled Showbiz tour at the Engine Shed, with entertaining stories of his life in and out of the spotlight. It continues with two hometown gigs in Birmingham's Alexandra Theatre on Thursday and Friday and in Salford on Saturday. Schedule and review.

LONDON: The marquee is back in Lammas Park for the Ealing Comedy Festival, five nights of top-notch comedy entertainment kicking off with a gala featuring Geoff Norcott, Jeff Innocent, Joanne McNally, Nathan Caton, Russell Kane and local lass Shappi Khorsandi.  See the week's full listings here

Friday July 23

SOUTHWOLD: Hard to believe it, but the Latitude festival is going ahead, more-or-less as normal, over the weekend.  Bill Bailey plays the main stage and a packed programme in the comedy arena includes the likes of Katherine Ryan, Simon Amstell and Jo Brand. Tickets are still available

ISLE OF WIGHT: Musical comedy queens Flo and Joan kick off the Ventnor Fringe, a week-long multi-arts festival that also includes Lou Sanders, Tez Ilyas, Geoff Norcott and many more.

BATH: To mark the scraping of the last Covid restrictions, organisers of the Bath comedy festival are programming a series of gigs this week and next under the banner 'permission to laugh'. Clear highlight of the celebration is this gig at Widcoombe Social club tonight featuring Carey Marx, Christian Talbot, Paul 'Silky' White, Yuriko Kotani, Arthur Smith

LONDON: Nish Kumar curates a weekend of free events at the Southbank Centre, starting with this free showcase that he's hosting on the riverside terrace at 5.30pm. There's a collection of sketches at 2pm tomorrow, and at 1pm on Sunday he presents State of Emergency, 'a message of care and support for young people.'

LONDON: A very intimate setting to see a couple of great comics as Ed Byrne and Glenn Wool play the Camden Comedy Club atop the Camden Head on Camden High Street in Camden (that's a lot of ‘Camdens’…)

MILTON KEYNES:  As part of the town's international festival, Angela Barnes, Rich Hall and Russell Kane perform an outdoor gig in  Campbell Park.

Saturday July 24

LONDON: The London Comedy Allstars line-up gig at the London Wonderground in Earls Court lives up to its billing with the impressive line-up of  Ahir Shah, Fin Taylor, Pierre Novellie, Rachel Fairburn and Sara Barron. Tickets

Published: 18 Jul 2021