Putting a Hoult to all his character work...

The week's best live comedy

The best of the week's live comedy, picked from the 6,775 events Chortle currently has listed. Use our search panel to check our full listings by date and region.

NOTE: The original headline show of this week's round-up – a charity bill at Newcastle's Tyne Theatre dubbed ''The Royal Variety Show of the North East on Tueday has been indefinitely postponed.

Sunday September 22

LONDON: Indie label Go Faster Stripe are setting up camp at The Bill Murray in Islington today, filming specials for future releases. Among them is 1980s alternative comedy legend The Iceman, reviving his act in which he makes futile attempts to melt a massive block of ice while cracking puns for a documentary at 4.30pm. The day also features Seymour Mace at 2pm, Siân Docksey at 7pm and Bilal Zafar at 9pm.

DUBLIN: Brutally dark American comic Anthony Jeselnik starts a run of dates this side of the Atlantic at Dublin's Olympia Theatre before heading to Belfast, London, Manchester and Glasgow in the coming days with his Bones And All tour. Anthony Jeselnik UK tour dates.

Monday September 23

BROMLEY: The musical version of Only Fools And Horses starts a regional tour, with Paul Whitehouse playing granddad for some weeks, including this one at the Churchill Theatre. Whitehouse also wrote the script with Jim Sullivan, son of the sitcom's creator, John, with musical contributions from Chas n Dave. You'd be a plonker to miss it. Only Fools And Horses review and tour dates.

LONDON: Colin Hoult stepped out of the slingbacks of his luvvie alter-ego Anna Mann to perform as himself for the first time at the Edinburgh Fringe. Now that excellent stand-up show, Colin, an affectionate and funny tribute to his family, has a week-long run at the Soho Thetre before heading off on tour, starting with a hometown gig in Nottingham on October 3 (Colin Hoult tour dates). And if you're seeing this London run you could do a lot worse than making it a double bill with Katie Norris's madly exaggerated 'autobiographical' debut Farm Fatale.

Tuesday September 24

LONDON: The Willow Comedy Night at the Comedy Store is a fundraiser for seriously ill 16-40 year olds which features an impressive line-up of Josh Widdicombe, Ivo Graham, Suzi Ruffell and Tom Rosenthal.

Wednesday September 25

LONDON: Ria Lina hosts Honeypot's annual comedy fundraiser in support of young carers at the Comedy Store, where she will introduce a strong line-up including Jo Brand, Andy Zaltzman, Geoff Norcott, Terry Alderton and Rachel Morton Young.

Thursday September 26

RICKMANSWORTH: An excellent line-up at the Watersmeet Theatre with insecure middle-class observations from Hal Cruttenden, satirical commentary from Marcus Brigstocke, delightful good manners from 1920s throwback Troy Hawke and personable stand-up with an edge from Ria Lima.

LONDON: The Country Mile Comedy Club normally has a strong line-up, with the fact it's fundraising for FareShare UK only acting as a bonus. Appearing at The Star of Kings in Kings Cross tonight are the varied talents of Sean McLoughlin, Steen Raskopoulos, Dee Allum, Jin Hao Li, Lorna Rose Treen, Samira Banks, Jonathan Oldfield, Patrick Spicer and double act Britney.

Friday September 27

LEICESTER: Michael Odewale kicks off his debut tour, Thoughts On Shuffle, at the Firebug, in which he muses on being a terrible role model, running from girlfriends' dads and developing 'stop and search envy'. Odewale's first stand-up show #BlackBearsMatter was nominated for best newcomer in the 2019 Dave Edinburgh Comedy Awards and his 2024 tour dates are here.

LONDON: Stewart Lee, who soon start a Leicester Square Theatre residency with his latest show, headlines a strong bill at the Clapham Grand that also includes Josie Long, Chloe Petts , Archie Maddocks and Athena Kugblenu.

NORTHAMPTON: The Old Savoy hosts 'The Anglia Comedy Allstars', an impressive line-up that includes star of the Australian Office Felicity Ward, anecdotal comedy master Justin Moorhouse, the prickly Paul Chowdhry - who's soon to record a stand-up special for Sky – and Edinburgh Comedy Award best newcomer nominee Jack Skipper

Thanks for reading. If you find Chortle’s coverage of the comedy scene useful or interesting, please consider supporting us with a monthly or one-off ko-fi donation.

Any money you contribute will directly fund more reviews, interviews and features – the sort of in-depth coverage that is increasingly difficult to fund from ever-squeezed advertising income, but which we think the UK’s vibrant comedy scene deserves.

Subscribe or donate here

Published: 22 Sep 2024