The week's best live comedy

The best of the week's live comedy, picked from the 6,013 events Chortle currently has listed. Use our search panel to check our full listings by date and region.

Sunday March 5

GLASGOW: Jim Jefferies kicks off a 14-date UK tour at the Armadillo, fresh off the back of his fifth Netflix special High n' Dry' in which he embraces his happily-married, sober life - and admits to getting a hair transplant. Jim Jefferies tour dates.

LONDON: The four-day Just For Laughs festival concludes in venues across The O2 estate in Greenwich, including a show from Elis James and John Robins and the grand climax: The Wrestling, featuring Ed Gamble, Alex Horne, Phil Wang, Glenn Moore, Rosie Jones and Abi Clarke in the ring. This will also be livestreamed for NextUp subscribers

Monday March 6

BRISTOL: Heats of the Chortle Student Comedy Award continue. Come and see the next generation of stand-up talent at the Bristol Student Union tonight (Tickets), and at Warwick in Coventry tomorrow. (Tickets)

Wednesday March 8: International Women’s Day

MANCHESTER: Femmes & Thems - a new quarterly female and non-binary comedy night - launches at the Frog & Bucket Comedy club tonight. Founders Alex Stringer and Tegan Marlow promise ‘a night of upbeat, shocking, silly, and (most importantly) hilarious stand-up comedy’ from a line-up that includes Allyson June Smith and BBC New Comedy Award winner Anna Thomas.

NEWCASTLE: Tyne to Stand Up…. Again! Is a benefit in aid of Rape Crisis at the Tyne Theatre and Opera House, hosted by Sammy Dobson and featuring loads of the region’s female comedy performers, including Louise Young, Your Aunt Fanny, Nicola Mantalios-Lovett as Zoe and many, many more.

SOUTHAMPTON: Harriet Kemsley headlines the Funny Women Rock gig at the Attic, with Aideen Mcqueen and Chortle best newcomer 2023 Lorna Rose Treen also on the bill. Tickets

Thursday March 9

LONDON: Bassem Youssef, the Egyptian comic dubbed the ’Jon Stewart of the Arab World’ for his political satire show Al Bernameg plays the Royal Festival Hall. Tickets. He’s also at the Old Rep in Birmingham tomorrow and the O2 Ritz in Manchester on Saturday.

Friday March 10

LONDON: Jamali Maddix and reigning Edinburgh Comedy Award winner Sam Campbell are among the acts taking part in a major benefit in aid of the Turkey-Syria Earthquake appeal. It’s been organised by Angel Comedy and takes place at Islington Assembly Hall. Tickets are available here, priced £26.73.

LONDON: A couple of days late, 21Soho celebrates International Women’s Day with a gig headlined by Meet The Richardsons star Lucy Beaumont and also featuring Jessie Cave, Mary O’Connell (who just won £100,000 courtesy of OnlyFans… for comedy, we should add), Yuriko Kotani, : Karen Hobbs and Rhiannon Shaw

LONDON: The Live At… series of gigs, which always features multiple top-flight headliners, comes to the Theatre Royal Stratford East for the first time, with Phil Wang, Thanyia Moore, Felicity Ward and Slim.

Published: 5 Mar 2023