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 3
Glasgow Jongleurs Comedy Club Jongleurs, UGC Building, 11 Renfrew Street, 0844 844 0044. 7.30pm. From £15. Dave Williams, Tanyalee Davis, Paul Chowdry and Colin Cole kick off the December shows. Ticket price includes a three course Christmas meal and dancing. Warning: may contain traces of tinsel and drunken crying in the toilets. FREE Bratchy and the Wee Man’s Comedy Pub Quiz The Arches Café Bar, 253 Argyle Street, 565 1035. 8pm. Comedic brothers Bratchy and The Wee Man, him of YouTube infamy, host a pub quiz with a difference with interactive games, WWE moves and tomfoolery. Oh, and there’ll be cash prizes and all. Comedy Corner Bacchus, 80 Glassford Street, 572 0080. 8.30pm. £5 (£3). A weekly gig with some fine comedy talent on display. Where many new nights offer opportunities for brand newbies, this is a gallery of some of the more experienced acts around Scotland. The Thursday Show The Stand, 333 Woodlands Road, 0870 600 6055. 8.30pm. £8 (£7; members £4). Compere Bruce Devlin brings on Noel James, Rab Brown, Stu & Garry and The Wee Man for another night of guaranteed entertainment, courtesy of The Stand. FREE Watson’s Wind-up Glasgow Film Theatre, 12 Rose Street, 6535. Weekly topical comedy fun at the recording of BBC Scotland’s popular sketch show, starring Jonathan Watson.
Edinburgh Jongleurs Comedy Club Jongleurs, Omni Centre, Greenside Place, 0844 844 0044. 7.30pm. From £15. Scottish comedian/TV presenter/hero Des Clarke performs with Danny Buckler, John Fothergill and Curtis Walker. Ticket price includes a proper meal and club after the show. FREE Heresy The Jekyll & Hyde, 112 Hanover Street, 225 2022. 9pm. Rick Molland’s den of depravity continues to lure innocents to a night of dark comedy goodies.
✽✽ The Thursday Show The Stand, 5 York Place, 558 7272. 9pm. £8 (£7;
members £4). The much-loved Fred MacAulay hosts this evening, with funnies from David Kay, John Gillick, The Wee Man and the characters living in the body of Pippa Evans.
Friday 4
Glasgow Jongleurs Comedy Club Jongleurs, UGC Building, 11 Renfrew Street, 0844 844 0044. 7.30pm. From £15. See Thu 3. The Friday Show The Stand, 333 Woodlands Road, 0870 600 6055. 8.30pm. £10 (£9; members £5). See Thu 3 for line-up.
Edinburgh Jongleurs Comedy Club Jongleurs, Omni Centre, Greenside Place, 0844 844 0044. 7.30pm. From £15. See Thu 3.
✽✽ The Friday Show The Stand, 5 York Place, 558 7272. 9pm. £10 (£9;
members £5). See Thu 3 for line-up but with pun-meister Stewart Francis replacing David Kay.
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The Improverts Bedlam Theatre, 11b Bristo Place, 225 9893. 10.30pm. £4 (£3.50). Late night laughter from Edinburgh’s long-standing improvised comedy troupe. Saturday 5
Glasgow Jongleurs Comedy Club Jongleurs, UGC Building, 11 Renfrew Street, 0844 844 0044. 7.30pm. From £15. See Thu 3. Comedy @ The State The State Bar, 148 Holland Street, 332 2159. 9pm. £6. The long-standing home of comedy in Glasgow, The State Bar continues to attract some of Scotland’s best comedians to its wee basement of joy. The Saturday Show The Stand, 333 Woodlands Road, 0870 600 6055. 9pm. £13. See Thu 3 for line-up.
Edinburgh Jongleurs Comedy Club Jongleurs, Omni Centre, Greenside Place, 0844 844 0044. 7.30pm. From £15. See Thu 3.
✽✽ The Saturday Show The Stand, 5 York Place, 558 7272. 9pm. £13. See
Fri 4. Sunday 6
Glasgow ✽✽ Glasgow Kids Comedy Club The Stand, 333 Woodlands Road,
0870 600 6055. 3–4pm. £3. Live laughs for younger comedy fans. This week Graeme Thomas, David Kay and host Bruce Devlin keep it clean for ages 8–12. No under 5s; all kids must be accompanied by an adult. FREE Ha Ha Raw Comedy Ivory Hotel, Langside Avenue, Shawlands, 8.30pm. Alan Anderson’s evening of free comedy offers a different line-up every week, for the grand total of no pennies. Michael Redmond’s Sunday Service The Stand, 333 Woodlands Road, 0870 600 6055. 8.30pm. £5 (£4; members £1). Michael Redmond is joined by the delightful David Kay and his brilliant brain. With Billy Kirkwood, Bob Graham and Alan Sharp.
Edinburgh FREE Whose Lunch is it Anyway? The Stand, 5 York Place, 558 7272. 1pm. Make an easy dose of improvised comedy part of your weekend with top notch performers Stu and Garry doing a free show, with hot food available.
✽✽ Rob Brydon Playhouse, 18–22 Greenside Place, 0844 847 1660.
7.30pm. £18.50. Award-winning comedy writer and performer Brydon, of Marion and Geoff and Gavin and Stacey fame, performs brand spanking new material. See 5 Things. The Sunday Night Laugh-In The Stand, 5 York Place, 558 7272. 8.30pm. £5 (£4; members £1). End your weekend with some proper proper comedy jokes, courtesy of Parrot, Kevin McCallum, Derek Miller and Daniel Webster. With host Siân Bevan.
Monday 7
Glasgow Improv Wars The Stand, 333 Woodlands Road, 0870 600 6055. 8.30pm. £4 (£2). A night of unexpected comedy, as Billy Kirkwood, Garry Dobson, Stu Murphy, Chris Forbes and The Improv Dogs champion the fine art of improvised comedy. Edinburgh Fit O’ The Giggles Absolute Beginners Beehive Inn, 18 Grassmarket, 225 7171. 8pm. £2 (£1). Barry McDonald heads up the bill this evening, with a selection of newer acts trying out material in this friendly wee comedy night. Red Raw The Stand, 5 York Place, 558 7272. 8.30pm. £2 (£1). Shedloads of aspiring comedians are knocking at The Stand’s door to have a bash at the funnies:
COMEDY ON TV Reunions, oration and urinations
While Larry David may be genuine in his belief that reunion shows are lame, he knows how to spin the best out of a flimsy idea. Getting the key cast of Seinfeld back together for the seventh season of Curb Your Enthusiasm (More 4, Thu 3 Dec, 10.40pm) couldn’t have happened without a good reason. And for the fictional ‘Larry’, this was in order to get his wife Cheryl back, having inadvertently got rid of girlfriend Loretta whose cancer was getting in the way of his golf. Probably the best set of ten episodes since the consistently brilliant third series where Larry, Jeff, Ted et al tried to get a new restaurant off the ground, Curb has once more found its funny (and an audience: US ratings were the highest yet for the HBO show). While the Seinfeld reunion storyline gave the series its headline appeal, the best moments actually occurred away from the reunion arc; the episode in which Larry is mistaken for a widow’s murdered husband, shortly before he accidentally urinates on a painting of Jesus is simply colossal. And so what if the Catholic League want Larry David crucified for it? Controversy has never been in short supply when The Thick of It (BBC2,
Sat 5 Dec, 10.40pm) gets into its stride, though even its most fervent detractors have pretty much given up on Armando Iannucci and his ability to pen half an hour of constant cursing and moved onto other targets (people joking about the physical appearance of swimmers and suchlike). This series’ revelation is the casting of the brilliant Rebecca Front as Nicola Murray, the painfully out of her depth Social Affairs and Citizenship Secretary, whose skill for the high profile gaffe is as prolific as Malcolm Tucker’s genius for inventive profanity.
Other shows worth looking out for over the fortnight are Guantanamo Phil (Channel 4, Fri 11 Dec, 10pm), the latest Comedy Showcase in which a Woolies’ assistant manager (Steve Edge) is detained while birdwatching on the Afghan border; We Need Answers (BBC4, Tue 8 Dec, 10pm) features Tim Key, Mark Watson and Alex Horne giving the ‘gameshow’ a good name; and Gary: Tank Commander (BBC2, Mon 7 Dec, 9pm), the creation of Greg McHugh, is inadvisedly taking part in a public debate with the hotshots at St Andrew’s University. All very Larry David, that. (Brian Donaldson)
see a bunch of them actually give it a go. With veterans Scott Agnew and Teddy. Tuesday 8
Glasgow Jongleurs Comedy Club Jongleurs, UGC Building, 11 Renfrew Street, 0844 844 0044. 7.30pm. From £15. Local hero Janey Godley puts down some straight- talking comedy, with the help of fellow funny people Tommy Campbell and Simon B Cotter. Ticket price includes a three course meal and dancing. FREE Comedy at the Halt Bar The Halt Bar, 160 Woodlands Road, 352 9996. 8.30pm. One of the newest gigs in
Glasgow’s thriving comedy scene, this one charging you nowt for the pleasure of watching a different line-up every week of some local up-and-comers. Red Raw The Stand, 333 Woodlands Road, 0870 600 6055. 8.30pm. £2 (£1). Even more people risk their dignity for a shot of the comedy goblet. A packed bill, cheap entry and proper comedians Jojo Sutherland and Iain Stirling. Edinburgh Midweek Comedy Cabaret The Stand, 5 York Place, 558 7272. 8.30pm. £4 (£2). It’s dark, it’s gloomy and you know fine well that you need cheering up, so settle in with a bunch of comedians