The week's best live comedy

The best of the week's live comedy, picked from the 7,715 events Chortle currently has listed – which has a very European flavour this week, with French, Dutch, Spanish and Paris-based English comedians among those embarking on tours. Use our search panel to check our full listings by date and region.

Sunday January 19

SOUTHAMPTON: The national tour of Stewart Lee vs The Man-Wulf kicks off at the Mayflower following the comic's traditional long development season at the Leicester Square Theatre in London. In it Lee adopts the persona of the tough-talking werewolf comedian ‘to position himself alongside comedy legends like Dave Chappelle, Ricky Gervais and Jordan Peterson at the forefront of side-splitting stadium-stuffing shitposting’ – in contrast to his usual style of liberal, clever stand-up that he fears is increasingly irrelevant. Stewart ​Lee tour dates.

BIRMINGHAM: Celebrating three decades in the entertainment, actor and comic Richard Blackwood, whose career has spenned West End theatre, EastEnders and Hollyoaks, embarks on a stand-up tour. Richard ​Blackwood tour dates.

LONDON: Polish clown Piotr Sikora has created a hard-bitten, and very funny, story of gangsterism and redemption, which plays at the Bill Murray in Islington tonight,

Tuesday January 21

LONDON: A week at the Soho Theatre heralds the start of Celya AB's tour of her latest show, Of All People. It is the British-based French comedian's most personal hour yet, discussing the mental turmoil of a brutal year, but without sacrificing her whimsy or joke-writing. Celya ​AB review and tour dates.

LONDON: Glenn Moore, Vittorio Angelone, Joz Norris, Pravanya Pillay and Frankie Thompson take part in Stand Up: The Gameshow, an intriguing mash-up between luve comedy and pub quiz when the act's material set the questions at Walthamstow Trades Hall tonight.

Thursday January 23

BRIGHTON: In his new tour, Señor Self-Destruct, Welsh-Spanish comedian Ignacio Lopez tries to identify his faults and ways to improve. It kicks off at the Komedia tonight Ignacio ​Lopez tour dates.

LONDON: Jessica Fostekew and her friendsDesiree Burch, Jen Brister and Pierre Novellie try out new material at CamdenComedy Club.

Friday January 24

LONDON: Barcelona-based Irish comic Kyla Cobbler brings her latest show, Gone Rogue, to the Leicester Square Theatre for one night only.

BRISTOL: One of the most memorable modern clowning shows of last year's Edinburgh Fringe, Swiss-Mexican performer Paulina Lenoir's Puella Eterna plays the intimate Wardrobe Theatre tonight and tomorrow.

HARROGATE: A varied bill at Hyena Lounge Comedy Club at Harrogate Theatre tonight features Smack The Pony's Fiona Allen, rapper and improviser MC Hammersmith, musical comedian Tom Taylor, and the witty and gregarious circuit veteran Andre Vincent.

Saturday January 25

SALFORD: In her memoirs last year, Jenny Eclair didn't hold back about what she thought of a comedy industry that she felt she (and other female comedians) was constantly battling against – while also offering a witty romp through her long career. Now she's converted those stories into a stand-up show also called Jokes Jokes Jokes, which starts at the Lowry tonight. Chortle conduced a big interview with Eclair earlier this month, and reviewed her book here. Jenny ​Eclair tour dates.

CAMBRIDGE: Dutch comedian Micky Overman - a former Chortle best newcomer nominee - embarks on her first solo tour, having previously supported the likes Jamali Maddix, Fern Brady and Sean McLoughlin. In Hold On, she discusses being at a crossroads in life point, starting to face questions about marriage and kids, that she’d previously been happy to avoid. Micky ​Overman tour dates.

LIVERPOOL: English comic Paul Taylor made a name for himself in France, where his bilingual French-bashing stand-up has won him 1.5 million followers and 180 million views on social media. Now his first English-only show, F*** Me I'm French!, tours the UK, starting at the Hot Water comedy club. Paul ​Taylor tour dates.

Published: 19 Jan 2025