Comedy
Events are listed by date, then city. Submit listings at least 14 days before publication to comedy@list.co.uk. Listings are compiled by Siân Bevan. ✽✽ Indicates Hitlist entry
Thursday 24
Glasgow Stand Up, Drink Up Comedy Pub Crawl Maggie May’s, 60 Trongate, Merchant City, 548 1350. 7.30pm. £7 (£5). Ha Ha Comedy presents a comedy show on the move, as you’re gently led around the drinking dens of the Merchant City and introduced to a new comedian in each one. Four Play The Winchester Club, 49 Bell Street, 552 3586. 8pm. £5 (£4). Four of the larger comedians to grace the Scottish comedy scene return with the show which saw them selling out during the Glasgow Comedy Fest. Kevin Bridges The Old Fruitmarket, Candleriggs, 353 8000. 8pm. Sold out. The beautifully talented lad takes a couple of hours to show why he’s one of the most talked about Scottish circuit acts of recent years. Billy Kirkwood Blackfriars, 36 Bell Street, 552 5924. 8.30pm. £6 (£5). Expect wonderfully childish, dirty humour in Kirkwood’s latest show Comedy Fizzbomb!. Comedy at the Gram Café Gramofon, 7 King Street, 552 7177. 8.30pm. £5. Viv Gee and Rob Kane host this weekly foray into all things comedy for next to nothing. A different line-up every week, packed with some of the finest circuit comedians in the land. The Thursday Show The Stand, 333 Woodlands Road, 0870 600 6055. 8.30pm. £8 (£7; members £4). The weekend just got perkier, as host Joe Heenan springs to action. He’ll be joined by Gus Tawse, Colin Owens and Jay Lafferty and a whole heap of laughing. Scottish Comedian of the Year Gong Show Maggie May’s, 60 Trongate, Merchant City, 548 1350. 10.30pm. £3 (£2). Who’ll be tough enough to beat the gong and win a place in the Scottish Comedian of the Year final? Edinburgh LadyFest Comedy Night Laughing Horse @ Edinburgh City Football Club, 7 Baxter’s Place, Leith Walk, 466 2009. 7pm. £4. Enjoy the funnier side of being a lady with LadyFest’s comedy quota. Featuring Siân Bevan, Jojo Sutherland and Elaine Malcolmson. FREE Heresy The Jekyll & Hyde, 112 Hanover Street, 225 2022. 9pm. Your favourite night of depraved comedy is now free, but with the same great line-ups lorded over by MC Rick Molland. Chuck a few quid in the bucket if you have a nice time. The Thursday Show The Stand, 5 York Place, 558 7272. 9pm. £8 (£7; members £4). Craig Hill is bounding back to The Stand to add some sparkle as the host of the weekend’s comedy. He’s joined by Kevin Gildea, Alan Francis, Bruce Fummey and Kim MacAskill.
Friday 25
Glasgow Alan Anderson’s Gallus Comedy Walk Maggie May’s, 60 Trongate, Merchant City, 548 1350. 7.30pm. £9 (£5–£30 family ticket). Get some fresh air as Mr Anderson takes you round the Merchant City with a funny and informative look at the area. Only an Excuse? Royal Concert Hall, 2 Sauchiehall Street, 353 8000. 7.30pm. £20. The OaE boys will be taking a free kick at the colourful characters of the beautiful game in Scotland. The Friday Show The Stand, 333 Woodlands Road, 0870 600 6055. 8.30pm. £10 (£9; members £5). See Thu 24 for line-up but with Luke Benson 42 THE LIST 24 Sep–8 Oct 2009
replacing Jay Lafferty. Scott Agnew Blackfriars, 36 Bell Street, 552 5924. 8.30pm. £8 (£6). The Scottish Comedian of the Year (til Sunday) returns to home turf with his show Emancipation. Jongleurs Comedy Club Jongleurs, UGC Building, 11 Renfrew Street, 0844 844 0044. 9.15pm. From £12. A selection of start times this weekend gives you a few opportunities to see this line-up of Jongleurs’ favourites: Martin Bigpig, Daliso Chaponda, Roger Monkhouse and Raymond Mearns. See preview for Chaponda. Mark Nelson Tron Theatre, 63 Trongate, 552 4267. 10.15pm. £9 (£8). Strap yourselves in as Nelson unleashes his show No Title, Just Jokes. The easily offended will hate it. Everyone else will love it. Edinburgh Jongleurs Comedy Club Jongleurs, Omni Centre, Greenside Place, 0844 844 0044. 8pm. From £11. Circuit favourite Martin Bigpig is here for the weekend to put some sense in you, with fabulous company from John Warburton, Adam Crow and Sean Meo. The Friday Show The Stand, 5 York Place, 558 7272. 9pm. £10 (£9; members £5). See Thu 24 for line-up.
Saturday 26
Glasgow Jongleurs Comedy Club Jongleurs, UGC Building, 11 Renfrew Street, 0844 844 0044. 7pm & 10pm. From £12. See Fri 25. Alan Anderson’s Gallus Comedy Walk Maggie May’s, 60 Trongate, Merchant City, 548 1350. 7.30pm. £9 (£5–£30 family ticket). See Fri 25. Vladimir McTavish Blackfriars, 36 Bell Street, 552 5924. 8.30pm. £8 (£6). Mr McT celebrates all that’s ace about this fair land with The Top Fifty Greatest Scots of All Time Ever Part Two. The Saturday Show The Stand, 333 Woodlands Road, 0870 600 6055. 9pm. £13. See Fri 25 for line-up. Gary Little Tron Theatre, 63 Trongate, 552 4267. 10.15pm. £9 (£8). If you didn’t get a chance to see Little’s Fringe show He was Only Jail Gay, this is yer last chance to catch it. Edinburgh Jongleurs Comedy Club Jongleurs, Omni Centre, Greenside Place, 0844 844 0044. 6.30pm & 10pm. From £11. See Fri 25. Only an Excuse? Brunton Theatre, Ladywell Way, Musselburgh, 665 2240. 7.30pm. £14.50 (£12.50). See Fri 25. The Saturday Show The Stand, 5 York Place, 558 7272. 9pm. £13. See Thu 24 for line-up.
Sunday 27 Glasgow Alan Anderson’s Comedy Coach Tour Maggie May’s, 60 Trongate, Merchant City, 548 1350. 3pm. £7 (£5). Hop onboard an open top bus for a tour with a difference, as comedian and architectural historian Alan Anderson guides you round Glasgow’s history in a family friendly trip. Raymond Mearns Tron Theatre, 63 Trongate, 552 4267. 8pm. £9 (£8). The mighty Mearns presents a fresh full-length show. Elaine Malcolmson and Niall Browne Blackfriars, 36 Bell Street, 552 5924. 8.30pm. £6 (£5). Save yourself a trip to Northern Ireland, as Browne and Malcolmson take you around the world of fairies and giants in All Kinds of Everything. FREE Ha Ha Raw Comedy Ivory Hotel, Langside Avenue, Shawlands, 8.30pm. Free comedy in a classy joint, with a different line-up every single bloomin’ week. Michael Redmond’s Sunday Service The Stand, 333 Woodlands
STAND-UP DALISO CHAPONDA Jongleurs, Glasgow, Fri 25 & Sat 26 Sep
After snuffling around a myriad of shows on the Fringe this year, witnessing Daliso Chaponda was like finding a truffle. One of the few acts playing The Lot on Grassmarket, his hour, Westerners Calm Down: An African’s Perspective, was an intelligent, skilfully whittled show concerning his life as a comic originally from Malawi, who started stand-up while at University in Canada and now resides in the UK. It spoke of the gulf of cultural differences between Africa and the West offering a refreshing point of view on our perceived problems from the recession to weight loss.
Chaponda was last at the Fringe two years ago but wasn’t too impressed by the experience. ‘I did it as a package show; I was so miserable half the time, so this year I planned ahead and stayed away from the things I didn’t like and maximised all the things I did enjoy. So I had a great time.’ This fortnight sees Chaponda return to these parts but to a very different venue: Glasgow Jongleurs. But it’s less a case of adapting the show to a different audience, more that it will return to its original form. ‘Some comedians write shows especially for Edinburgh; I just like to write shows from my weekly performances, hone them then build them into a show. That way you know they’re funny. If you can make a group in Jongleurs laugh you can make an Edinburgh Fringe audience laugh.’ (Marissa Burgess)
Road, 0870 600 6055. 8.30pm. £5 (£4; members £1). Another trip down the meandering lane to the world of Michael Redmond. This week the Father Ted star introduces Colin Owens, Martin McAllister, Barry McDonald and Andrew Learmonth. Scottish Comedian of the Year Grand Final The Old Fruitmarket, Candleriggs, 353 8000. 8.30pm. £15 (£13). Following a search around the land for some of the best gag-smiths around, the Old Fruitmarket will once again play host to the SCotY awards. With gallant host Des Clarke. Edinburgh FREE Whose Lunch is it Anyway? The Stand, 5 York Place, 558 7272. 1pm. The wonderful world of Stu & Garry returns for a lunchtime filled with all the comedy, hot food and drink you can shake your hangover at.
The Sunday Night Laugh-In The Stand, 5 York Place, 558 7272. 8.30pm. £5 (£4; members £1). Jojo Sutherland comperes this evening, with an adorable selection of funny boys including Matt Green, Andrew Learmonth, Michael Manley and Stephen Callaghan. Monday 28
Glasgow Dance, Monkey Boy, Dance The Stand, 333 Woodlands Road, 0870 600 6055. 8.30pm. £4. Raymond Mearns, John Ross and Allen Chalmers continue the cult of the Monkey Boys, with stand- up, improv and sketches jam-packed in. Edinburgh Fit O’ The Giggles Absolute Beginners Beehive Inn, 18 Grassmarket, 225 7171. 8pm. £2 (£1). A weekly dose of supportive new comedy, headed up by a