New home for Manchester's long-running comedy club

Manchester’s long-running XS Malarkey comedy club is moving to a new venue.

Established 25 years ago by its resident MC Toby Hadoke, pictured, the Tuesday-night gig is moving a few hundred yards from the Bread Shed, where it has been for nine years, to the new Canvas bar.

Hadoke, a Coronation Street actor and BBC Radio 4 Extra presenter as well as a stand-up, said: ‘We had a great time at The Bread Shed, welcoming some A-list talent like Russell Kane, Sophie Willan and Gary Delaney, but we were wooed by Canvas, which is a fantastic space with a brilliant team, cracking vibe and a layout and technical facilities we could only dream of.  This will enable us to pull off similarly strong bookings, but in a great environment.’

The news comes the day after XS Malarkey – which Joe Lycett has dubbed ‘the best comedy club in the world’ – was named independent comedy club at the North West Comedy Awards, for the fourth time in a row.

Canvas opened in July in the Circle Square development on the site of the former BBC headquarters off Oxford Road.

It will be the sixth venue for the club after Scruffy Murphys (now the Sir Joseph Whitworth) and Bar XS in Fallowfield;   The Queen of Hearts (Now 256 Wilmslow Road); Platt Chapel, and the now defunct Jabez Clegg Beer Hall as well as the Bread Shed, formerly called the Pub/Zoo

Early in their careers Peter Kay, John Bishop,Jason Manford , Alan Carr, Justin Moorhouse, and Sarah Millican all played the club, which recently celebrated its 25th birthday with a surprise appearance from James Acaster. XS Malarke also runs on a not-for-profit model, keeping the door charge as low as £3 for members and barring stag and hen nights

Iain Cartwright, general manager of Canvas, says: ‘We are so proud to be associated with XS Malarkey and look forward to partnering with them - they’re the perfect match for what we are aiming to achieve here at Canvas. We’ve been wanting to do comedy for ages and having such a legendary club providing it for us is a dream come true.’

» XS Malarkey forthcoming gigs

Published: 12 Jan 2023