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 13 Glasgow Gilded Balloon Comedy Circuit Oran Mor, 731–735 Great Western Road, 357 6200. 7.30pm. £14 (£12). Today’s line-up includes Chris Martin, Jimmy McGhie and a special guest. Slumdog Stand Up Slumdog Bar & Kitchen, 410 Sauchiehall Street, 7.30pm. £19.95 inc meal. A unique line-up of comedians each week provide the dessert to a fine Indian Banquet. Yum. The Thursday Show The Stand, 333 Woodlands Road, 0870 600 6055. 8.30pm. £8 (£7; members £4). Susan Calman, off of the radio and that, hosts this weekend’s rather chirpy line-up of Martin Mor, Michael Adams, Patrick Rolink and David Longley.
Edinburgh Ghillie Gags Ghillie Dhu, 2 Rutland Place, 222 9930. 8.30pm. £15 inc dinner. Ghillie Dhu continues to be the cool new kid in town, complete with its own comedy night. For £15 you get a two- course meal and a selection of top comedians, or head along after 10pm and get in for a fiver. FREE Heresy The Jekyll & Hyde, 112 Hanover Street, 225 2022. 9pm. Heresy’s basement of filth does its thing. The easily offended will be, you know, offended. The Thursday Show The Stand, 5 York Place, 558 7272. 9pm. £8 (£7; members £4). It’s the middle-of-the-month, which as good a reason as any to check out the comedy musings of Viz co-founder Simon Donald. He’s on with Junior Simpson, Henry Ginsberg, Woody and host Susan Morrison.
Perth ✽✽ Fred MacAulay Perth Theatre, 185 High Street, 0845 612 6324. 8pm.
£14.50. The Scottish comedy legend and Grand High Lord of Radio Scotland is here, live and doing that stand-up thing that got him where he is.
Friday 14
Glasgow Famous for Comedy Highlight, UGC Building, 11 Renfrew Street, 0844 844 0044. 8pm. From £12. These three gents know their way around comedyland: Simon Bligh, Paddy Lennox and Dave Johns. Ticket price includes dancing after the show.
✽✽ Flight of The Conchords SECC: Clyde Auditorium, Finnieston Quay,
0844 395 4000. 8pm. SOLD OUT. Cult New Zealand comedy folk duo and BBC4 stars who are so adored that even mentioning this gig here is a pointless bit of teeth-kicking to anyone without a ticket. See feature, page 24. Capitol Comedy Capitol, 468 Sauchiehall Street, 331 1040. 8.30pm. £5. A rather delicious trio of comedy treats this evening with Gary Little, Mickey Adams and the not-for-the-faint-hearted teachings of the Reverend Obadiah Steppenwolf III. The Friday Show The Stand, 333 Woodlands Road, 0870 600 6055. 8.30pm. £10 (£9; members £5). See Thu 13 for line-up.
Edinburgh FREE Comedy Club at The Station Station Tavern, 316 Gorgie Road, 347 8955. 7.30–9.30pm. Free night of comedy with a rolling roster of fantastic comics and a cracking compere from the minds who brought you Heresy. Famous for Comedy Highlight, Omni Centre, Greenside Place, 0844 844 0044. 8.30pm. From £10. A weekend of jokes
56 THE LIST 13–27 May 2010
5 THINGS YOU MIGHT NOT KNOW ABOUT
RICH HALL 1 Details of Rich Hall’s early days are admirably sketchy, though it’s widely reported that he was born in Virginia in 1954. Rumours that he faked his own death to avoid some debts from his street-performing days are unconfirmed but we can be fairly certain that this snippet from his promoter’s website can’t possibly be true: ‘He quit his job as a hurricane namer for the United States Meteorological Service two decades ago and hasn’t looked back’.
2 Matt Groening confessed that Hall was the real-life inspiration behind the character of Moe Szyslak, the grouchy bar-keep of Homer’s favourite tavern in The Simpsons. When the truth unfurled, Hall admitted: ‘It’s an honour, once you get over the shock of seeing yourself as a horrible, yellow caricature’. 3 He is credited with inventing the word ‘sniglet’, whose dictionary definition (were it in said book) would be ‘a word that should be in the dictionary but isn’t’. Hall has published several books in this area including Sniglets for Kids, When Sniglets Ruled the Earth and Angry Young Sniglets.
4 He was nominated for the 1996 Perrier Award alongside Bill Bailey, Armstrong & Miller and Al Murray, with the gong going to Dylan Moran, but four years later he scooped the big one in the guise of grizzled Country legend Otis Lee Crenshaw. He swatted away some pretty lightweight competition featuring no-hoper nominees such as Lee Mack (with Catherine Tate), Dave Gorman and Sean Lock. Where are they now, eh? 5 Truly one of stand-up comedy’s most respected veterans, he has earned the right to vent some spleen and he has this to say about the current state of the art: ‘A robot can do comedy now. If you cut into Michael McIntyre, you’d probably find a lot of wires and processors and stuff.’ (Brian Donaldson) ■ Perth Concert Hall, Fri 21 May.
enjoy a couple of hours of free improvised comedy courtesy of Stu & Garry. Hot food’s available to melt away the last of your hangover. The Sunday Night Laugh-In The Stand, 5 York Place, 558 7272. 8.30pm. £5 (£4; members £1). Laid-back comedy guaranteed to take the edge of the end of the week, with host Jojo Sutherland, Henry Ginsberg and up-and-comers Lucy Oldham and Ben Verth.
MY COMEDY HERO ANDREW MAXWELL The Stand, Glasgow, Mon 17 May; The Stand, Edinburgh, Tue 18 May
I was quite torn with this. The person who makes me truly laugh is Patrice O’Neal, he really cracks me up. Then obviously there’s Connolly and obviously there’s Richard Pryor. But Dave Allen was just a revelation when I was a kid. He was lampooning the Catholic church years before anyone else. People of my parents’ generation laughed at Dave Allen and he really pulled apart the absurdity of that shit, talking about his various addictions while just sitting in the chair and drinking shots. And the tabloids went after him; he said ‘fuck’ on air and they properly went for him. But he was extremely dapper and had a great cadence to his voice.
I just watched a clip and he does this whole routine about quitting smoking recorded in 1982 on prime-time BBC, probably studio one or studio two, when there were four channels maximum. He’s sitting on a chair relating one anecdote for eight fucking minutes, which is a testament to the sheer magnetism of the man. He was from a very patrician background. His old man was editor of the Irish Times but he was just getting stuck into all these topics. And there was the fact he was Irish; him, Terry Wogan and Val Doonican at the time were these massive household names in Britain while fellow Irishmen were blowing the shit out of Britain. (Interview by Brian Donaldson)
and stuff with Charlie Baker, Jason John Whitehead, Steve Harris and marvellous thoughts from Johnny Candon. Hot food available at the start of the night, and dancing at the end. The Friday Show The Stand, 5 York Place, 558 7272. 9pm. £10 (£9; members £5). See Thu 13 for line-up. Fit O’ The Giggles Upstairs Beehive Inn, 18 Grassmarket, 225 7171. 9pm. £5. The more professional side to the Fit O’The Giggles crew, with comedians putting on a top quality show every week. The Saturday Show The Stand, 5 York Place, 558 7272. 9pm. £13. See Thu 13 for line-up.
Saturday 15 Sunday 16
Glasgow Famous for Comedy Highlight, UGC Building, 11 Renfrew Street, 0844 844 0044. 8pm. From £12. See Fri 14.
✽✽ Flight of The Conchords SECC: Clyde Auditorium, Finnieston Quay,
0844 395 4000. 8pm. SOLD OUT. See Fri 14. The Saturday Show The Stand, 333 Woodlands Road, 0870 600 6055. 9pm. £13. See Thu 13 for line-up.
Edinburgh Famous for Comedy Highlight, Omni Centre, Greenside Place, 0844 844 0044. 6.30pm & 10pm. From £10. See Fri 14.
Glasgow Glasgow Kids Comedy Club The Stand, 333 Woodlands Road, 0870 600 6055. 3pm. £4. Brave comedians have a go at entertaining the toughest crowd on earth. No under 5s; all kids must be accompanied by an adult. Michael Redmond’s Sunday Service The Stand, 333 Woodlands Road, 0870 600 6055. 8.30pm. £5 (£4; members £1). Sunday service with David Longley, John Gavin, Derek Miller and Daniel Webster. Edinburgh FREE Whose Lunch is it Anyway? The Stand, 5 York Place, 558 7272. 1pm. Get in early to grab a seat, then relax and