Comedy HITLIST THE BEST COMEDY EVENTS
Events are listed by date, then city. Submit listings at least 16 days before publication to comedy@list.co.uk. Listings are compiled by Kirstyn Smith. Indicates Hitlist entry Thursday 19
Glasgow The Impenetrable Click The Halt Bar, 160 Woodlands Road, 07775 332592. 8pm. £2–£3. A night of experimental comedy, poetry and music.
✽ The Thursday Show The Stand, 333 Woodlands Road, 0844 335 8879.
8.30pm. £8 (£7; members £4). A medley of stand-up as Raymond Mearns plays host to Michael J Dolan’s grumpy charm, with Glenn Wool and Graeme Thomas.
Edinburgh Comedy Gong Show Semi Finals The Shack, 119 Rose Street, 226 4311. 8pm. £5 (£4). Previous winners of the notoriously tough new talent Gong Show nights battle it out for a place in the final, which is held during the Fringe. The Thursday Show The Stand, 5 York Place, 558 7272. 9pm. £8 (£7; members £4). Hosting tonight is razor-sharp Scott Agnew, with Pierre Hollins, Dave Longley and Antony Murray. Glenn Wool Ahead of playing his part in The Return of the Lumberjacks, Canada’s Wool Man gets all trippy on the west coasters. The Stand, Glasgow, Thu 19–Sat 21 Jul.
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 Show Jongleurs, The Glasshouse, 20 Glassford Street, 0870 011 1960. 8.30pm. £15. Paul Pirie, Phil Walker, Simon Bligh and John Warburton show you lot how it’s done.
Edinburgh Comedy at the Cav Lava Ignite, 3 West Tollcross, 228 3252. 7pm. £12. Local comedy types to cheer you up, plus club entry after the show is included in the price. Bargain. Friday Night Live The Shack, 119 Rose Street, 226 4311. 8pm. £12 (£10). Jojo Sutherland introduces her pick of comedy acts from across the country, and tonight it’s Katie Mulgrew and Ro Campbell. The Beehive Comedy Club Beehive Inn, 18 Grassmarket, 225 7171. 8.30pm. £5. Ben Verth presents a weekend packed with top local stand-ups and visiting comedians to tickle your funny bone in an entirely appropriate way. The Friday Show The Stand, 5 York Place, 558 7272. 9pm. £10 (£9; members £5). See Thu 19 for line-up.
Funny in Falkirk The third annual FiF bash brings us comedy from the likes of Des Clarke, Stewart Lee, Bridget Christie and Mark Watson (pictured). See 5 Things, page 51. Various venues, Falkirk, Fri 20–Tue 31 Jul.
Fringe Preview Shows It’s here! But before you go paying full-price
for acts like Nina Conti (pictured), check out their early preview gigs for less. See page 53. Various venues and dates, Edinburgh and Glasgow.
Janey Godley In her new show Glasgow Gallivant, the Godmother of Scottish comedy takes some punters off on a bus tour with a few notable differences. One of which will surely be a level of chatty amiability absent from your regular conductor. City Halls, Glasgow, Sat 28 Jul. The Comic Club A quartet of Scottish comedy stalwarts here in the shape of Fred MacAulay, Stu Who?, Bruce Morton and Parrot. Two of the four are not using their real names – we’ll let you figure out which ones for yourself. Blackfriars, Glasgow, Sat 28 Jul.
Kai Humphries The cheeky Geordie chap (we’ve never known a non-cheeky Geordie, truth be told) entertains the Jongleurs massive. See preview, page 51. Jongleurs, Glasgow, Sat 28 Jul.
Frankie Boyle Somewhat sneakily encroaching into the Fringe zone, Mr Boyle lances pomposity with his apparent last-ever tour of the nation. Edinburgh Playhouse, Tue 31 Jul–Thu 2 Aug.
Comedy Variety Show Another set of Monday shows for the up-and-comers of the land, hosted by the esteemed Keara Patricia Murphy. City Café, Edinburgh, Mon 23, 30 Jul.
50 THE LIST 19 Jul–2 Aug 2012
MY COMEDY HERO JAMIE DALGLEISH Vespbar, Glasgow, Mon 23 Jul
As someone who was put forward by his girlfriend for his first gig and therefore not influenced to do it by any ‘heroes’, I had never really thought about this before. However, there really only has to be one choice: Frank Skinner. My first memory of him isn’t even comedy related, it was at Euro ’96 with the fantastic ‘Three Lions’ song. Even today, that song is solely responsible for me hoping England only lose every game 1-0, as opposed to a 5-0 thrashing. Back to comedy though and it was his Baddiel and Skinner
Unplanned show that first made the 12-year-old me think, ‘Is that all comedians have to be: funny with their pals? I could do that . . .’ He might not be the most original and thought-provoking of comedians but he has been remarkably consistent for the past 25 years and aims only to make the punters laugh with his cheeky, immature lad style. As much as I love his silly jokes and sharp observations though, it’s his ‘Osama Bin Laden song’ that’s my current favourite as it shows he’s still on top of his game.
A normal, modest guy that always gives audiences their money’s worth, and can make the adult me laugh as much as my 12-year-old self did, is all I could ever hope to achieve in comedy. That’s why Christopher Collins (aka Frank Skinner) is the man. I even find myself defending his nonsense ‘anti-atheist’ rants of late, which proves how much I admire the guy. (Interview by Brian Donaldson) ■ See edfringe.com for Dalgleish’s Edinburgh Fringe dates