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.

Wednesday January 4

LONDON: Four great shows start at Soho Theatre tonight.

First, Chloe Petts' unshowily impressive debut begins a Soho Theatre run before a national tour kicks off next month. The blurb talks of using her cerebral 'laddishness' to examine her desperate attempts at living in the moment, the darts and her (strictly non-romantic) love for men. Review and tour dates

Then there's the joyously bonkers Frankie McNair, whose off-the-wall stand-up and one-woman sketch show hybrid Relax Your Knees won her the best newcomer gong at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival last year. Reviews.

Ruby Clyde and childhood friend Rachel WD are the double-act Shelf, and their joyous debut Hair is a celebration of gender and sexual identity.... and haircuts. Review

And completing our quartet is a new show from Taskmaster stand-out star Mike Wozniak. Zusa tells how how his great-aunt Zusa made it from Poland to Luton with a war nipping at her heels. It plays until Saturday before kicking off a UK tour in Kendal on January 19. Tour dates

ASHBY-DE-LA-ZOUCH: Promoters Funhouse Comedy celebrate their 20th anniversary of providing gigs around the East Midlands and occasionally beyond with a powerhouse charity night at the Lyric Rooms tonight with telly comics and circuit stalwarts Paul Sinha, Geoff Norcott, Daliso Chaponda, Ivan Brackenbury, Steve Royle and Lindsey Santoro

Friday January 6

LEICESTER: The Leicester Comedy Festival hosts its annual preview show at De Montfort Hall, previewing some of the delights coming to the city from February 8 to 26. Fresh(ish) out of the jungle Seann Walsh hosts Charlie George, Grace Campbell, Stuart Goldsmith, Firuz Ozari and Plastic Jeezus

LONDON: The Boat Show a great bill at a great setting - the Tattershall Castle paddle steamer moored at Embankment - as long as you've got your sea legs. On tonight and tomorrow are cheery Brennan Reece, savvy storyteller Janine Harouni and fast-rising Vittorio Angelone, an Edinburgh Fringe best newcomer nominee last year.

Saturday January 7

SWINDON: Mind Mangler: Member of the Tragic Circle is a spin-off from the West End show Magic Goes Wrong, created by the hugely successful Mischief Theatre Company. Following a run at the Edinburgh Fringe last summer, it kicks off a UK tour with two nights at the Wyvern Theatre tonight. Henry Lewis plays the titular mentalist - more bluster than talent - and Jonathan Sayer his stooge'. Read our review here and more details of the tour are here

Published: 1 Jan 2023