Red Raw The Stand, 5 York Place, 558 7272. 8.30pm. £2. The new talent night which digs out the latest entertainers and offers older hands a place to test their freshest gags. With Ed Patrick.
Tuesday 24
Glasgow FREE Pop-Up Comedy The Halt Bar, 160 Woodlands Road, 353 6450. 8.30pm. See Tue 10. Red Raw The Stand, 333 Woodlands Road, 0844 335 8879. 8.30pm. £2. New acts and new material with Ray Bradshaw. Edinburgh Laughing Horse New Act of the Year Quarter Final City Café, 19 Blair Street, 220 0125. 8pm. £5 (£4). The quarter finals of this long-standing competition, which aims to find the best new comedians to tickle your fancy. With host Keara Murphy and a line-up that’s yet to be announced. The Beehive Comedy Club Newbees Beehive Inn, 18 Grassmarket, 225 7171. 8pm. £2 (£1). See Mon 16. Jo Caulfield’s Comedy Collective The Stand, 5 York Place, 558 7272. 8.30pm. £5 (£4). See Wed 18.
Wednesday 25
Glasgow Burns Night Special The Stand, 333 Woodlands Road, 0844 335 8879. 8.30pm. £8 (members £5). Vladimir McTavish and Susan Calman pay a fitting tribute to Rabbie. FREE Gong Show Vespbar, 14 Drury Street, 07909 822841. 8.30pm. See Wed 11. Edinburgh Beatnik Comedy The Tron, 9 Hunter Square, High Street, 226 0931. 8.30pm. £3 (students £2). See Wed 11. Burns Night Special The Stand, 5 York Place, 558 7272. 8.30pm. £8 (members £5). Toast the bard in a manner he’d have fully appreciated for a night of beautiful, filthy comedy. With Joe Heenan and Susan Morrison.
Thursday 26
Glasgow ✽✽ The Thursday Show The Stand, 333 Woodlands Road, 0844 335
8879. 8.30pm. £8 (£7; members £4). Des Clarke, Nick Helm (see 5 Things, page 61), Patrick Rolink and host Susan Morrison.
Edinburgh Laughing Horse New Act of the Year Quarter Final 2 City Café, 19 Blair Street, 220 0125. 8pm. £5 (£4). The next level of the Laughing Horse quest to find the best new comedy talent, chaperoned by your loving host Keara Murphy. The Thursday Show The Stand, 5 York Place, 558 7272. 9pm. £8 (£7; members £5). There’s the exuberant Martin Mor alongside Keir McAllister, Adnan Ahmed, Julia Sutherland and host Bruce Devlin. Comedy Academy The Shack, 119 Rose Street, 226 4311. 9.30pm. £3. See Thu 5.
Friday 27
Glasgow ✽✽ The Friday Show The Stand, 333 Woodlands Road, 0844 335 8879. 8.30pm. £10 (£9; members £5). See Thu 26 for line-up. Jongleurs Comedy Club Jongleurs, The Glasshouse, 20 Glassford Street, 0870 011 1960. 8.30pm. £15. With Sam Avery, Dougie Dunlop, Junior Simpson and Stockholm Syndrome sketch comic Davey Connor.
Comedy Friday 20
Glasgow ✽✽ The Friday Show The Stand, 333 Woodlands Road, 0844 335 8879.
8.30pm. £10 (£9; members £5). See Thu 19 for line-up.
✽✽ Jongleurs Comedy Club Jongleurs, The Glasshouse, 20
Glassford Street, 0870 011 1960. 8.30pm. £15. With Andrew Roper, Gary Delaney, Patrick Rolink and Tanyalee Davis. Edinburgh Friday Night Live The Shack, 119 Rose Street, 226 4311. 8pm. £8. See Fri 6. The Beehive Comedy Club Beehive Inn, 18 Grassmarket, 225 7171. 8.30pm. £4–£7. Ben Verth presents top local and visiting comedians. Foster’s Comedy Live Highlight, Omni Centre, Greenside Place, 0844 844 0044. 9pm. £10–£13. Adam Crow has survived cancer and a heart attack, so can be forgiven from switching from light to dark in the blink of an eye. He’s joined by Jojo Sutherland and Phil Butler. The Friday Show The Stand, 5 York Place, 558 7272. 9pm. £10 (£9; members £5). See Thu 19 for line-up, but Eleanor Morton is replaced by Matt Richardson.
Saturday 21
Glasgow ✽✽ Jongleurs Comedy Club Jongleurs, The Glasshouse, 20
Glassford Street, 0870 011 1960. 8.30pm. £15. See Fri 20.
✽✽ The Saturday Show The Stand, 333 Woodlands Road, 0844 335
8879. 9pm. £15. See Thu 19 for line-up. Edinburgh Saturday Night Live The Shack, 119 Rose Street, 226 4311. 8pm. £10. See Sat 7. The Beehive Comedy Club Beehive Inn, 18 Grassmarket, 225 7171. 8.30pm. £4–£7. See Fri 20. Foster’s Comedy Live Highlight, Omni Centre, Greenside Place, 0844 844 0044. 9pm. £10–£13. See Fri 20, plus Davey Connor. The Saturday Show The Stand, 5 York Place, 558 7272. 9pm. £15. See Sat 20 for line-up. Jekyll and Hyde Comedy Club The Jekyll & Hyde, 112 Hanover Street, 225 2022. 9.30pm. £8 (£6). See Sat 7.
Sunday 22
Glasgow FREE Fresh Meat The Butterfly and the Pig, 153 Bath Street, 221 7711. 8.30pm. See Sun 8.
✽✽ Michael Redmond’s Sunday Service The Stand, 333 Woodlands
Road, 0844 335 8879. 8.30pm. £6 (£5; members £1). Tonight Andrew O’Neill talks alternative philosophies and a little bit of politics, with Scott Gibson. Edinburgh FREE Whose Lunch Is It Anyway? The Stand, 5 York Place, 558 7272. 1.30pm. See Sun 8. Sunday Night Laugh-In The Stand, 5 York Place, 558 7272. 8.30pm. £6 (£5; members £1). Winner of FHM’s Search for a Stand-Up Marlon Davis is here, plus Jason Murphy, Gareth Waugh, Darren Connell and Siân Bevan on hosting duties.
Monday 23 Glasgow Improv Wars The Stand, 333 Woodlands Road, 0844 335 8879. 8.30pm. £4 (£2). See Mon 9.
Edinburgh Comedy Variety Show City Café, 19 Blair Street, 220 0125. 8–10.30pm. £3 (£2; £1 if booked in advance through lastminute.com). See Mon 16. The Beehive Comedy Club Newbees Beehive Inn, 18 Grassmarket, 225 7171. 8pm. £2 (£1). See Mon 16. 60 THE LIST 5 Jan–2 Feb 2012
PREVIEW STAND-UP NICK REVELL The Stand, Edinburgh, Thu 19–Sat 21 Jan
As one of the original voices from the 1980s Comedy Store era, Nick Revell has been round a block or two. Having earned a Perrier nomination in 1987, his stand-up career seemed to be flying, but in 1992 he decided to have a break and concentrate on writing. That break lasted an entire decade. ‘In retrospect I should have kept the motor ticking over but I was always a topical comic who turned over lots of new material. I was getting so much work as a writer and got out of the discipline of having to go to Coventry on a rainy Tuesday, so I just made the decision to stop.’ For Revell, coming back into a stand-up fold that
had changed out of all recognition was pretty much like starting over. ‘Any comic will tell you that four days without a gig makes you a bit twitchy. Over the ten years, it had gone more mainstream which I don’t
automatically think is a bad thing, but you couldn’t rely on the same frames of reference between you and your audience.’
Now happy enough back in stand-up, Revell’s skills
as a political satirist are honed on panel show podcast No Pressure to be Funny. ‘It’s a mixture of comics, journalists and charity workers and we want them to come on without worrying that it’s going to be a comedians pissing contest to see who can do the funniest jokes all the time.’ On his impressive writing CV are jobs working with
Rory Bremner, Dave Allen and the Not the Nine O’Clock News team, while ongoing work on a 90s sitcom entitled Going Dutch never came to full fruition when his collaborator and proposed star Dermot ‘Father Ted’ Morgan died suddenly. ‘It was a great working experience and it was extraordinary being in Dublin with him; it was like walking round with the Pope, and being mobbed constantly.’ (Brian Donaldson)