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 21
Glasgow The Thursday Show The Stand, 333 Woodlands Road, 0870 600 6055. 8.30pm. £8 (£7; members £4). It looks set to be a barnstorming weekend at The Stand, held together with the gaffer tape that is Raymond Mearns. With performances from Tony Law, Andy Sir, Barry Dodds and Rab Brown.
Edinburgh ✽✽ The Thursday Show The Stand, 5 York Place, 558 7272. 9pm. £8 (£7; members £4). Yay! Jason Cook is back in town with his face and his jokes and everything. He’ll be spending the weekend with compere Billy Kirkwood, Simon Clayton and Mary Bourke.
Friday 22
Glasgow Famous for Comedy Highlight, UGC Building, 11 Renfrew Street, 0844 844 0044. 8pm. From £12. The raucous comedy house formerly known as Jongleurs continues to entertain the masses, including a post-show club. With comedians such as Curtis Walker doing the funnies. The Friday Show The Stand, 333 Woodlands Road, 0870 600 6055. 8.30pm. £10 (£9; members £5). See Thu 21 for line-up.
Edinburgh Famous for Comedy Highlight, Omni Centre, Greenside Place, 0844 844 0044. 8pm. From £11. JoJo Smith, Gavin Webster and Brian Higgins sprinkle their magical comedy dust around the land formerly known as Jongleurs. There’s dancing until 2am included in the ticket price.
✽✽ The Friday Show The Stand, 5 York Place, 558 7272. 9pm. £10 (£9;
members £5). See Thu 21 for line-up. The Improverts Bedlam Theatre, 11b Bristo Place, 225 9893. 10.30pm. £4 (£3.50). Late night improvised, unpredictable comedy from the Bedlam girls and boys.
Saturday 23
Glasgow Burns Night at Oran Mor Oran Mor, 731–735 Great Western Road, 357 6200. 7.30pm. £40. A mixed night of music from The Sirens of Titan Choir, comedy from Karen Dunbar and Jonathan Watson performing The Immortal Memory to celebrate the anniversary of Burns’ birth, complete with a traditional Burns supper. See 5 Things for Dunbar. Famous for Comedy Highlight, UGC Building, 11 Renfrew Street, 0844 844 0044. 8pm. From £12. See Fri 22. The Saturday Show The Stand, 333 Woodlands Road, 0870 600 6055. 9pm. £13. See Thu 21 for line-up. Edinburgh Famous for Comedy Highlight, Omni Centre, Greenside Place, 0844 844 0044. 6.30pm & 10pm. From £11. See Fri 22. Burns Reloaded Corn Exchange, 11 New Market Road, 477 3500. 7pm–2am. £40. Promising all the fun of a traditional Burns supper but in a revised and revitalised format, Burns Reloaded returns to raise funds for Children 1st. In addition to a three-course dinner and the traditional Selkirk Grace and the Address to the Haggis, there’s a ceilidh, music from Clann an Drumma and Robbie Shepherd’s Nightmare Ceilidh Band compere Susan Morrison. Book ahead at www.children1st.org.uk/events/65/burnsre loaded2010.
44 THE LIST 21 Jan–4 Feb 2010
5 THINGS YOU MIGHT NOT KNOW ABOUT
KAREN DUNBAR 1 Karen Dunbar’s previous jobs include being a part-time face- painter at Butlins in Ayr, a karaoke singer in a club called Bonkers, and a DJ on the Glasgow circuit. Her mum had only ever wanted her to work in the local post office. 2 She went to an open audition at the Comedy Unit and so impressed the judges that they immediately put her to work on a new Radio Scotland sketch show called Chewin’ the Fat. By all accounts, it did quite well.
3 Her favourite karaoke number is Abba’s ‘Fernando’. 4 A massive Robert Burns fan, she does a mean ‘Tam O’Shanter’ which has resulted in her being a favourite at Scottish suppers.
5 Positive reviews have described her variously as ‘like a virus’, ‘a brilliant drunk’, and ‘a female, Scottish Peter Kay’. Positive reviews, remember. (Brian Donaldson) ■ Oran Mor, Glasgow, Sat 23 & Sun 24 Jan.
297 Bath Street, 0844 871 7648. 7.30pm. £16. Steve Delaney’s deluded thespian creation tells us what we’re missing out on by not appreciating his talents. See First Word, page 2.
✽✽ Famous for Comedy Burns Night Special Highlight, UGC Building, 11 Renfrew Street, 0844 844 0044. 8pm. From £12. Continuing Robert Burns’ tradition for wordplay and wit, Janey Godley, Paul Pirie and Geoff Boyz perform at this Burns Night Special. Burns Night Special The Stand, 333 Woodlands Road, 0870 600 6055. 8.30pm. £7 (£5). Three of the finest comedians on the Scottish circuit gather together in a night of comedy with all the wit and flair that The Bard deserves. Have a dram and enjoy.
Edinburgh Fit O’ The Giggles Absolute Beginners Beehive Inn, 18 Grassmarket, 225 7171. 8pm. £2 (£1). There’s yet more people willing to humiliate themselves for your entertainment. With Obie and Tony Jameson.
✽✽ Red Raw The Stand, 5 York Place, 558 7272. 8.30pm. £2 (£1). This
looks set to be an ace night. As well as the mounds of new comedy talent you’d expect at any Red Raw, you’re being treated to a headliner in the shape of Jason Cook and host Susan Calman. For £2!
Tuesday 26
Monday 25
Glasgow ✽✽ Count Arthur Strong: The Man Behind the Smile King’s Theatre,
Glasgow 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
MY COMEDY HERO STEPHEN K AMOS Perth Concert Hall, Sun 24 Jan; Theatre Royal, Glasgow, Mon 1 Feb
The first time I stepped inside a comedy club was when I decided to do stand-up, so I didn’t have any comedy heroes and didn’t have a voice. But having done it for two or three years, I started looking at more and more comedy and got to know a few names and the one who still stands out for me is Richard Pryor, because he was so far ahead of his time. He broke out from being a young, on-the-edge black comic who was loved by his audience to appeal to a mass audience but without compromising his style too much and they bought it. Then, he moved into that area of talking about himself on stage,
personally; it took me about 12 years before I did that on stage. But the things he talked about and found comedy value in were breathtaking. He won over the black audience, then won over the white audience and then got into movies, some quite on-the-edge, some really funny, some he did clearly for the money and then went on to be the man we loved and then lost. Some of the big guys on the circuit now are masterful joke technicians but you don’t get anything of them at all; you have a feeling that you don’t have any idea who they are or what they’re about. I’m not sure there’s anyone now who could have the same impact as Richard Pryor had. (Interview by Brian Donaldson) ■ Amos’ live DVD Find the Funny is out now.
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.
✽✽ The Sunday Night Laugh-In The Stand, 5 York Place, 558 7272.
8.30pm. £5 (£4; members £1). The joyful Jason Cook hosts this evening, with performances from Parrot, Kim MacAskill and Robert Parker.
Perth Stephen K Amos Perth Concert Hall, Mill Street, 01738 621 031. 8pm. £16.50. An evening of smiling in the company of the charmster with his solo show. The Feelgood Factor. See My Comedy Hero.
✽✽ The Saturday Show The Stand, 5 York Place, 558 7272. 9pm. £13.
See Thu for line-up.
Sunday 24 Glasgow Glasgow Kids Comedy Club The Stand, 333 Woodlands Road, 0870 600 6055. 3pm. £3. Live comedy for ages 8–12. This week Barry Dodds and Susan Calman will be doing the jokes and other stupid stuff. No under 5s; all kids must be accompanied by an adult. Burns Night at Oran Mor Oran Mor, 731–735 Great Western Road, 357 6200. 7.30pm. £40. See Sat 23. Michael Redmond’s Sunday Service The Stand, 333 Woodlands Road, 0870 600 6055. 8.30pm. £5 (£4; members £1). Sunday evenings in Glasgow remain in the safe paws of Michael Redmond, who this week presents Barry Dodds, Elaine Malcolmson and Gerry McDade.