The week's best live comedy

The best of the week's live comedy, picked from the 4,778 events Chortle currently has listed. Use our search panel to check our full listings by date and region. It’s a week of elaborately punny name-based show titles, as you’ll see…

Sunday February 19

EDINBURGH: John Hastings begins a short tour of his punchy personal storytelling show at the Monkey Barrel. Do You Have Any Ointment My John Hastings might be about a grim year in his life, but doesn’t scrimp on the jokes. Review and tour dates.

LONDON: Stewart Lee and Daniel Kitson lead the annual Resofit benefit for cutting-edge, truly independent radio station Resonance FM at the Bloomsbury Theatre. Also on the bill: Ania Magliano, Bilal Zafar, Matthew Highton, Rosie Holt, Shazia Mirza and Simon Munnery.

Monday February 20

ST ANDREWS: The Chortle Student Comedy Award is back in full force, with the first heat at St Andrews Students’ Association tonight (tickets will be available on the door) and at Edinburgh’s Monkey Barrel comedy club tomorrow. (Tickets)

LONDON: One of the exclusive band of Edinburgh shows to gain a five-star Chortle rating, Glenn Moore’s Will You Still Need Me, Will You Still Feed Me, Glenn I'm Sixty Moore is at the Soho Theatre all week. If it sells out, as looks likely, he has an extra date at Leicester Square Theatre on March 10. Tickets

LONDON: The oddballs of the Alternative Comedy Memorial Society are back at the Phoenix pub near Oxford Circus with Thom Tuck introducing Ahir Shah, Bec Hill, Fergus Craig and many more…

Tuesday February 21

LONDON: Gits and Shiggles Comedy have assembled a great line-up for their gig at the Half Moon Putney tonight, including eccentric Edinburgh Comedy Award winner Sam Campbell, easily angered Garrett Millerick, charmingly quirky Jack Barry, and no-nonsense Susie McCabe.

LONDON: She’s been seen in the likes of Mae Martin's Feel Good and Rose Matafeo's Starstruck, but Tessa Coates is also an acclaimed comic in her own right, winning a slew of four-star reviews for Get Your Tessa Coates You've Pulled last Edinburgh. The show, about her attention deficit disorder and frequent humiliations is at Soho Theatre for three nights before visiting Manchester, Brighton and Bristol. Dates

OXFORD: Grace Campbell kicks off her ‘fiery and explicit’ tour at the Old Fire Station. A Show About Me(n) tells how she let go of her need for male validation and is full of vivid descriptions of her sexual experiences, break-ups and dates. Grace Campbell tour dates

Thursday February 23

BRISTOL: John Kearns begins the UK tour of his quirky but relatable new show, The Varnishing Days - his first since getting a bit more fame thanks to Taskmaster. He starts at the Glee Club, following its London run last week. John ​Kearns tour dates

Friday February 24

LEICESTER: Bilal Zafar starts his Care tour at the Leicester comedy fest - a show about his year spent working in a care home for very wealthy people while being on minimum wage. Bilal Zafar tour dates

LONDON: Nish Kumar heads another typically strong bill at the Dulwich Comedy Experience in upmarket Alleyn's school. Also appearing are Fatiha El-Ghorri, Ian Smith ad National Comedy Award nominated Amy Gledhill.

Saturday February 25

LONDON: At Downstairs at the King's Head, whose long-standing/suffering promoter Peter Graham just won the offstage contribution accolades at the Chortle Awards, experienced hands Adam Bloom and Charmian Hughes join some up-and-comers and compere Tom Toal.

Published: 19 Feb 2023