Comedy Tuesday 10
Glasgow FREE Pop-Up Comedy The Halt Bar, 160 Woodlands Road, 353 6450. 8.30pm. See Tue 26. Red Raw The Stand, 333 Woodlands Road, 0844 335 8879. 8.30pm. £2. See Tue 26, tonight with Scott Gibson and Gavin Webster. Edinburgh The Beehive Comedy Club Newbees Beehive Inn, 18 Grassmarket, 225 7171. 8pm. £2. See Mon 25. Electric Tales The Stand, 5 York Place, 558 7272. 8.30pm. £5 (£4). Siân Bevan and Susan Morrison blend comedy and storytelling for a night of funny yarns and verse.
Wednesday 11 Glasgow New Material Night Vespbar, 14 Drury Street, 07909 822841. 8–10.30pm. £3. See Wed 27. The Fun Junkies The Stand, 333 Woodlands Road, 0844 335 8879. 8.30pm. £5 (£4; members £2.50). Magic, sketches and musical breaks from the How Do I Get Up There? troupe.
Edinburgh Beatnik Comedy The Tron, 9 Hunter Square, High Street, 225 3784. 8.30pm. £3 (students £2). See Wed 27. Melting Pot The Stand, 5 York Place, 558 7272. 8.30pm. £5 (£4; members £2.50). Vote for the best of the new sketches and skits from local comedy types.
Thursday 12 Glasgow The Thursday Show The Stand, 333 Woodlands Road, 0844 335 8879. 8.30pm. £8 (£7; members £4). Regular host-type Susan Morrison looks after the sharp wits of both Quincy and Mark Maier.
Edinburgh Gong Show The Shack, 119 Rose Street, 226 4311. 8–10pm. £3. See Thu 21. The Thursday Show The Stand, 5 York Place, 558 7272. 9pm. £8 (£7; members £4). Easy-going humour from Jason John Whitehead, followed by improvisers extraordinaire Stu & Garry, with David Morgan, all hosted by Martin Mor.
Friday 13
Glasgow Peter Powers Pavilion Theatre, 121 Renfield Street, 332 1846. 7.30pm. £7. See Fri 6. The Friday Show The Stand, 333 Woodlands Road, 0844 335 8879. 8.30pm. £10 (£9; members £5). See Thu 12 for line-up. Jongleurs Comedy Show Jongleurs, The Glasshouse, 20 Glassford Street, 0870 011 1960. 8.30pm. £15. With Janey Godley, Jacques Barrett and Scott Agnew. Edinburgh Friday Night Live The Shack, 119 Rose Street, 226 4311. 8pm. £8. See Fri 22. The Beehive Comedy Club Beehive Inn, 18 Grassmarket, 225 7171. 8.30pm. £5–£7. See Fri 22. The Friday Show The Stand, 5 York Place, 558 7272. 9pm. £10 (£9; members £5). See Thu 12 for line-up.
Saturday 14
Glasgow Peter Powers Pavilion Theatre, 121 Renfield Street, 332 1846. 7.30pm & midnight. £12–£15. See Thu 7. Comedy @ The State The State Bar, 148 Holland Street, 332 2159. 8.15pm. £7 (£5). See Sat 23. Jongleurs Comedy Show Jongleurs, The Glasshouse, 20 Glassford Street, 0870 68 THE LIST 21 Jun–19 Jul 2012
011 1960. 8.30pm. £16. See Fri 13. The Saturday Show The Stand, 333 Woodlands Road, 0844 335 8879. 9pm. £15. See Thu 12 for line-up. Edinburgh Saturday Night Live The Shack, 119 Rose Street, 226 4311. 8pm. £10. See Fri 22. The Beehive Comedy Club Beehive Inn, 18 Grassmarket, 225 7171. 8.30pm. £5–£7. See Fri 22. The Saturday Show The Stand, 5 York Place, 558 7272. 9pm. £15. See Thu 12 for line-up.
Sunday 15
Glasgow FREE Fresh Meat The Butterfly and the Pig, 153 Bath Street, 221 7711. 8.30pm. See Sun 24. Michael Redmond’s Sunday Service The Stand, 333 Woodlands Road, 0844 335 8879. 8.30pm. £6 (£5; members £1). A chilled night with Michael and Quincy.
Edinburgh FREE Whose Lunch Is It Anyway? The Stand, 5 York Place, 558 7272. 1.30pm. See Sun 24.
✽ Fringe Preview Double Bill: Simon Donald and John Scott
The Stand, 5 York Place, 558 7272. 8.30pm. £8 (£7). Simon Donald’s School of Swearing is followed by John Scott’s Totally Fed Up, a look at happiness.
The Sunday Night Laugh-In The Stand, 5 York Place, 558 7272. 8.30pm. £6 (£5; members £1). See Sun 24. Monday 16
Glasgow ✽ Fringe Preview: Stephen Carlin The Stand, 333 Woodlands Road,
0844 335 8879. 8.30pm. £10. Mr Carlin presents Pandas vs Penguins, a pensive look at why we all just can’t get along.
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 25. The Beehive Comedy Club Newbees Beehive Inn, 18 Grassmarket, 225 7171. 8pm. £2. See Mon 25. Red Raw The Stand, 5 York Place, 558 7272. 8.30pm. £2. See Mon 25, with Ro Campbell.
Tuesday 17
Glasgow FREE Pop-Up Comedy The Halt Bar, 160 Woodlands Road, 353 6450. 8.30pm. See Tue 26. Red Raw The Stand, 333 Woodlands Road, 0844 335 8879. 8.30pm. £2. See Tue 26, with Ro Campbell. Edinburgh The Beehive Comedy Club Newbees Beehive Inn, 18 Grassmarket,
225 7171. 8pm. £2. See Mon 25. Jo Caulfield’s Comedy Collective The Stand, 5 York Place, 558 7272. 8.30pm. £5 (£4). experimental stand-up, sketches and characters. Wednesday 18
Glasgow New Material Night Vespbar, 14 Drury Street, 07909 822841. 8–10.30pm. £3. See Wed 27. Edinburgh Beatnik Comedy The Tron, 9 Hunter Square, High Street, 225 3784. 8.30pm. £3 (students £2). See Wed 27. Benefi t for Ethiopia Link The Stand, 5 York Place, 558 7272. 8.30pm. £10 (£8). Comedy for a good cause with Susan Morrison, Keir McAllister, Jay Lafferty, Gus Lymburn and Raymond Mearns.
Thursday 19
Glasgow The Thursday Show The Stand, 333 Woodlands Road, 0844 335 8879. 8.30pm. £8 (£7; members £4). Raymond Mearns hosts Michael J Dolan. Edinburgh Gong Show The Shack, 119 Rose Street, 226 4311. 8–10pm. £3. See Thu 21. The Thursday Show The Stand, 5 York Place, 558 7272. 9pm. £8 (£7; members £4). Hosted by Scott Agnew, with Pierre Hollins and Dave Longley.
TV VEEP Sky Atlantic, Mon 25 Jun, 10pm ●●●●●
Armando Iannucci recently stated that Veep should not be viewed simply as an American version of The Thick of It. Certainly, there’s no obvious Malcolm Tucker figure bellowing and bullying all and sundry and while the language is ripe, the swearing is not quite so inventive in Veep (though ‘pencil-fucked’ comes close). But it’s the petty dramas which seem to dwarf actual policy issues at hand that take centre stage here just as they did in Iannucci’s award-winning BBC affair. This is as far from The West Wing as a show about US politics could possibly be, a fact Iannucci practically
draws attention to with its short theme tune burst of Snuffy Walden-esque pomp and flourish. While the opening episode touches on filibuster reform and employment issues, these are just administrative smokescreens to the real action: what happens when you screw up a condolence card and how do you squirm out of uttering an offensive word in front of work colleagues?
As Vice-President Selina Meyer, Julia-Louis Dreyfus pulls out all the tricks she worked so well in Seinfeld: sassy, ditzy, enraged and bamboozled are all high up in her comedy locker. And within a single episode, Iannucci has expertly drawn each individual character: the communications director who constantly bleats about plausible deniability and a probably fictional dog who needs him at home; a loyal chief-of-staff suddenly under threat from a slimy operator; an underhand White House operative and a nerdish, socially incompetent aide. Veep might ultimately turn out to be a vaguely inferior cousin of The Thick of It, but Armando Iannucci’s voyage into the world of HBO is still a treat. (Brian Donaldson)