Fishing, borders, and Chris Rock

The week's best live comedy

The best of the week's live comedy, picked from the thousands of events Chortle currently has listed. Use our search panel to check our full listings by date and region.

Monday May 9

TORQUAY: The Would I Lie To You? triumvirate of Lee Mack, David Mitchell and Rob Brydon kick off a tour with three nights at the Princes Theatre, promising ‘ an evening of chat, comedy, and general messing about’. Brydon, Mack and Mitchell tour dates.

LONDON: Dylan Moran headlines a Comedy Store fundraiser for Head Held High, a social enterprise working with young people at risk of exclusion, care leavers, long term unemployed, lone parents, and ex-offenders. Also on the bill are Fin Taylor, Michelle De Swarte, Rich Hall, and Tom Ward.

LONDON: American podcaster and comic Brandon Wardell - who has supported Bo Burnham and Bob Odekirk - comes to the Soho Theatre for the week with stand-up that’s been described as ‘peak millennial’.

LONDON: Also arriving at Soho is Andy Zaltzman, back on tour after reinvigorating Radio 4’s News Quiz. His show, Satirist For Hire, is here, on and off, until May 21.

Tuesday May 10

LONDON: Another fundraiser at the Comedy Store, this one for the mental health charity Sikh Your Mind and featuring Hyde Panaser, Nabil Abdulrashid, Shazia Mirza, Sukh Ojla, Preet Singh and Daman Bamrah.

Wednesday May 11

NOTTINGHAM: Patrick Kielty kicks off his new tour, Borderline, at the Glee. And the timing probably couldn’t be more pertinent, as Sinn Fein becomes the dominant party in Northern Ireland for the first time, putting the Union under greater strain than ever. In this show, the comedian, who grew up close to the Irish border, offers a personal take on borders, national identity and the future of the Union, post-Brexit.Patrick Kielty tour dates.

SOUTHAMPTON: On the back of their hugely successful angling series, Bob Mortimer and Paul Whitehouse invite you to join them for a chat about fishing, life, death and falling over in their very short tour. It kicks off at the Southampton Guildhall tonight then visits Colchester, Stevenage, Lincoln and Crawley… and that’s it. Mortimer and Whitehouse tour dates

NEWCASTLE: The BBC Comedy Festival comes to town this week, and as well as the daytime sessions there are two sold-out stand-up shows at The Stand. Tonight’s features Anna Thomas, Carl Hutchinson, Louise Young and Sukh Ojla, while tomorrow it’s Lauren Pattison, Raul Kohli, Tim Renkow and Leo Reich.

Thursday May 12

LONDON: Fresh from being clobbered by Will Smith at the Oscars, Chris Rock brings his Ego Death tour to the UK. He plays the Royal Albert Hall tonight, the Birmingham, Leeds and Manchester’s arenas over the next three nights. Chris Rock tour dates.

BOURNEMOUTH: Also making the trip from America to Britain’s arenas is comedy ventriloquist Jeff Dunham, who brings his Seriously!? tour to Birmingham, Glasgow, Leeds, London’s O2 and Cardiff after his engagement at the Bournemouth International Centre tonight.

LONDON: Even more ridiculous than the real thing - as if that were possible - Pinata's Euro Ision Songs Contest 2022 parodies the campest night of the year with comics Huge Davies, Olga Koch, Sam Lake, Rajiv Karia, Shelf, Siblings, Foxdog Studios, Yasmine Day, Simon David and Ari Anindita presenting their compositions at 21Soho.

Friday May 13

LONDON: Brett Goldstein takes time out from being feted by Hollywood, thanks to his work on Ted Lasso, to appear at the Hackney Empir, as part of a strong bill that also boasts David O'Doherty, Rhys James, Sophie Duker and Suzi Ruffell. Tickets