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.

Sunday May 14

LONDON: Fergus Craig performs as viral alter ego, Martin Fishback, taking to the 2Northdown stage tonight to convince the world once and for all that he is right and they are wrong.

Monday May 15

LONDON: The Comedy Store hosts a benefit for mental health charity Rethink, headlined by TV's Joel Dommett and backed by a line-up that includes Fatiha El-Ghorri, Toussaint Douglass and the charity's ambassador, Russell Kane.

Tuesday May 16

BRISTOL: Frankie Thompson brings her astounding multimedia comedy onslaught, Catts – very loosely based on an anarchic one-woman adaptation of the musical of the near-identical name – to the Old Vic for the week. Read our review here.

LONDON: Rob Anderson adopts the role of a young scientist to get a better understanding of the homosexual species by pulling data from the audience in his show, Heartthrob Live. One of Out Magazine’s 100 most influential LGBTQ+ people of 2022, the comic is at Soho Theatre for the rest of the week.

Wednesday May 17

LONDON: Another big fundraiser, this one for Nerve Tumours UK and at the Union Chapel in Islington. Daniel Kitson makes one of his all-too rare outings as compere with a top-notch bill that also includes the likes of Celya AB, Jessica Fostekew, Paul Foot and many more.

CHRISTCHURCH: A strong line-up in Dorset tonight as former Mock The Week regular Andy Parsons is joined by the rumbustious Jarred Christmas and quirky Tom Ward at the Regent Centre.

Friday May 19

LONDON: The British Film Institute is hosting a celebration of The Comic Strip this weekend, to mark the all-important 41st anniversary celebration. At 6.20pm tonight, founding members including Peter Richardson, Alexei Sayle and Nigel Planer, takes audiences on a nostalgic trip through the comedy troupe’s finest moments. And on Sunday they are screening The Strike and GLC: The Carnage Continues followed by a Q&A with Richardson, Dawn French and Jennifer Saunders; as well as Bad News Tour & Churchill: The Hollywood Years with Richardson and Planer answering the questions.

LONDON: American comic Nikki Glaser makes a one-night-only stop in the UK, playing Islington's Union Chapel. She's also a podcaster (of course) and TV star of Comedy Central's Not Safe with Nikki Glaser and the E! reality programme Welcome Home Nikki Glaser? While her second special, Bangin' is available on Netflix.

LONDON: Acts over 35 will be taking part in the final of the Not So New Comedian of the Year at the Museum Of Comedy. The finalists are: Adam Larter, Arielle Souma, Garrie Grubb, Georgia Thorp, Javier, Mark Flynn, Matt Smith, Pete Teckman, Saban Kazim, Sallyann Fellowes, Simon Jay and Zoe Brownstone.

MELBOURNE: The Derbyshire town plays host to its annual Comedy Shinding, put together by the Just The Tonic comedy club. Headliners over the next three days are Milton Jones, Mark Watson and Seann Walsh, who are backed by the cream of the comedy circuit. More details here

Saturday May 20

NEWCASTLE: You don't get many gigs in a Cathedral (well, unless you're an archbishop). Tonight Newcastle Cathedral hosts a comedy line-up that includes Lou Sanders, Gavin Webster, Lauren Pattison and Lloyd Griffith

LIVERPOOL: The Laughterhouse club takes over the Philharmonic Hall, with a line-up that includes keyboard maestro David O'Doherty, gregarious Kiri Pritchard-McLean, old-school hero Mick Miller, and comedian and Chaser Paul Sinha.

Published: 14 May 2023