Plus tours by Jason Byrne, Maisie Adam, Colin Hoult and Axel Blake– and the Greenwich Comedy Festival

The best of the week's live comedy, picked from the 4,500-plus events Chortle currently has listed. Use our search panel to check our full listings by date and region.

Sunday September 11

DUBLIN: Rescheduled no fewer than four times, outspoken US comedian Doug Stanhope begins his long-delayed tour this side of the Atlanti at the 3Olympia Theatre, before a month of dates in the UK. Doug Stanhope tour dates

Wednesday September 14

LONDON: Simon Amstell kicks off the Greenwich Comedy Festival in the grounds of the historic National Maritime Museum, with a top-flight line-up of acts every night. The open-air festival runs until Sunday and also features Stewart Lee, Frankie Boyle, Dylan Moran, Isy Suttie and many more familiar and emerging comedy names. Listings and tickets

LONDON: Phil Nichol’s lively Cray Cray Cabaret returns to the Comedy Store with guests including Ed Byrne, Michael Odewale and Lily Phillips plus chanteuse Sarah-Louise Young.

BRIGHTON: Colin Hoult tackles grief and memory in what might be the last outing for his theatrical alter-ego in The Death Of Anna Mann, which kicks off a UK tour at the Komedia tonight after nabbing a nomination in Dave’s Edinburgh Comedy Awards last month. The Death Of Anna Mann tour dates

Thursday September 15

NEWCASTLE: Jason Byrne is taking his new show Unblocked on tour, starting at The Stand in Newcastle tonight. Its title comes from the operation the comedian had to have five stents implanted last year after suffering chest pains while out for a run, the fact he was banned from TikTok for impersonating ‘Body Coach' Joe Wicks, as well as a reference to the way ‘the constipation of Covid has been cleared [and] live entertainment has been colonically irrigated and readied up for us all.’ Jason Byrne tour dates

NEWCASTLE: Also in Newcastle, this year’s Britain’s Got Talent winner, Axel Blake, kicks off his first tour with dates spreading through to April. He was Simon Cowell’s golden buzzer pick on the show, and as well as scooping £250,000 prize he will appear on this year’s Royal Variety Performance. Axel Blake tour dates

LIVERPOOL: Maisie Adam also kicks off her tour, Buzzed, tonight, starting at the Slaughter House. The upbeat and optimistic show takes in weddings, football - and the unwanted gift of houseplants. Maisie Adam tour dates

CANTERBURY: Delightfully strange Milton Jones headlines a strong line-up at the Marlowe Theatre that also features Babatunde Aléshé, Catherine Bohart and Fern Brady.

Friday September 16

LONDON: Drew Lynch was a golden buzzer performance on Season 10 of America’s Got Talent in 2017, where he finished in second place. Since then, he has appeared on Maron and Conan, and amassed more than 2 million subscribers on YouTube. He’s at the Leicester Square Theatre tonight and tomorrow.

Published: 11 Sep 2022