list.co.uk/comedy
Events are listed by date, then by city. Submit listings at least 14 days before publication to comedy@list.co.uk. Listings are compiled by Kirstyn Smith. ✽ Indicates Hitlist entry
Thursday 16
Glasgow FREE Pop-Up Comedy The Halt Bar, 160 Woodlands Road, 353 6450. 8.30pm. Some of the Scottish comedy scene’s freshest talent. The Thursday Show The Stand, 333 Woodlands Road, 0844 335 8879. 8.30pm. £10 (£7; members £5). Start your weekend early with a full-on comedy bonanza. Raymond Mearns hosts Alistair Barrie, Jacques Barrett and Chloe Philip. Edinburgh Thursday Notebook Beehive Inn, 18 Grassmarket, 225 7171. 8.30pm. £3. Ben Verth steps up to introduce a new talent and material night with the occasional old-timer dropping by to polish their act. The Thursday Show The Stand, 5 York Place, 558 7272. 9pm. £10 (£7; members £5). Billy Kirkwood is exuberantly funny alongside Rob Rouse, Paul Currie, Susie McCabe and Bob Graham.
Stirling ✽ John Cooper Clarke Tolbooth, Jail Wynd, 01786 274000. 8pm.
£16.50. The legendary Mancunian punk poet, a spiritual godfather to the likes of Mike Skinner and Plan B.
Friday 17
Glasgow The Friday Show The Stand, 333 Woodlands Road, 0844 335 8879. 8.30pm. £12 (£10; members £6). See Thu 16. Jongleurs Comedy Club Jongleurs, The Glasshouse, 20 Glassford Street, 0870 011 1960. 8.30pm. £15–£16. Some top laughmeisters are primed, namely Mark Olver, Michael Legge, Scott Agnew and Mark Nelson. Edinburgh The Beehive Comedy Club Beehive Inn, 18 Grassmarket, 225 7171. 8.30pm. £7. Ben Verth presents a weekend packed full of top local and visiting comedians. The Friday Show The Stand, 5 York Place, 558 7272. 9pm. £12 (£10; members £6). See Thu 16.
Dunfermline ✽ Reginald D Hunter: In the Midst of Crackers Alhambra
Theatre, 35 Canmore Street, 01383 740384. 8pm. £23. The self-proclaimed ‘comedian, swashbuckler and scientist’ takes his latest show on the road. See preview, page 63.
Saturday 18 Glasgow Jongleurs Comedy Club Jongleurs, The Glasshouse, 20 Glassford Street, 0870 011 1960. 8.30pm. £15–£16. See Fri 17. Comedy @ The State The State Bar, 148 Holland Street, 332 2159. 9pm. £7 (£5). The granddaddy of Glasgow comedy venues continues to attract some of Scotland’s best comedians. The Comedy Explorer’s Alternative Comedy Club The Flying Duck, 142 Renfield Street, 564 1450. 8pm. £3. Andrew Learmonth and Sarah Cassidy’s alt.comedy night gets its jaws into a different theme each time. See review, page 67. The Saturday Show The Stand, 333 Woodlands Road, 0844 335 8879. 9pm. £15. See Thu 16.
COMEDY
5 THINGS . . . YOU MIGHT NOT KNOW ABOUT . . . EDDIE IZZARD
1 If you happened to be dotting around Edinburgh during August in the early 80s, you may have witnessed Eddie Izzard doing some street performing. In 1991, he was nominated for the Perrier while his links with the festival now are producing new acts, such as last year’s shows from Trevor Noah and Michael Mittermeier. 2 In 2000, he was accused by Watchdog of ripping off fans for, shock horror, performing some gags live which had previously appeared on DVD. We’re still awaiting the investigation into the Rolling Stones playing songs from the 1960s on their current tour. 3 Last year, Izzard set himself a target of running 27 marathons in South Africa in tribute to Nelson Mandela who was imprisoned for 27 years. On the advice of doctors he was told to stop after just four or risk actual death. Don’t think he’s a shirker though, as he successfully completed 43 of the buggers for Sport Relief in 2009. 4 In the 2010 documentary film, Believe, he confessed that the death of his mother when he was six was the spur which has made him so driven: ‘everything I do in life is trying to get her back’. 5 Showing just how lummy well diverse his talents are, he played piano on ‘Vienna’ when Midge Ure performed the tune at Live8’s Murrayfield leg in 2005. (Brian Donaldson) ■ SECC, Glasgow, Wed 5 Jun.
Monday 20 Tuesday 21
Sunday 19
Glasgow Social Stand Up The Social Southside, 28–30 Kilmarnock Road, Shawlands, 0845 659 5902. 8pm. £8. Compere Bruce Morton hosts Ed Whitley and Susie McCabe plus Gary Little. Price includes pizza. Part of Southside Fringe. Rob Rouse: Life Sentences The Stand, 333 Woodlands Road, 0844 335 8879. 8.30pm. £12 (£10). Rob became father to a baby girl, so he’s got feminism on the brain and is ready to share in another of his trademark chirpy shows. Edinburgh FREE Whose Lunch Is It Anyway? The Stand, 5 York Place, 558 7272. 1.30pm. Regular freestyle comedy wizards Paul Graham and Stuart Murphy fire up the imagination with another slice of improv action.
Glasgow Improv Wars The Stand, 333 Woodlands Road, 0844 335 8879. 8.30pm. £4 (£2). It’s a fight to the death (or until one of them needs a sit down) between adlib experts Garry Dobson, Stu Murphy and official ‘Improv Warlord’ Billy Kirkwood.
FREE Comedy and Cocktails Cocktail & Burger, 323 Sauchiehall Street, 353 0953. 8pm. Another new Glasgow night, with extra tasty treats. See review, page 67. Edinburgh Red Raw The Stand, 5 York Place, 558 7272. 8.30pm. £2. The Stand’s spankingly good new talent night, encouraging the latest comedy stars out of the woodwork. With host Jay Lafferty (see My Comedy Hero, page 65) and Gavin Webster.
Glasgow FREE Pop-Up Comedy The Halt Bar, 160 Woodlands Road, 353 6450. 8.30pm. See Thu 16. Red Raw The Stand, 333 Woodlands Road, 0844 335 8879. 8.30pm. £2. Weekly beginners’ showcase plus Mark Nelson and Susie McCabe. Edinburgh Benefit for Diabetes UK The Stand, 5 York Place, 558 7272. 8.30pm. £9 (£8). Diabetes UK Scotland helps those affected by diabetes, aiming to improve their quality of life. Helping to raise funds is a top line-up of comedians including Fred MacAulay and more tbc.
Wednesday 22 Glasgow New Material Night Vespbar, 14 Drury Street, 204 0060. 8pm. £3. Julia
16 May–13 Jun 2013 THE LIST 65
MY COMEDY HERO JAY LAFFERTY The Stand, Edinburgh, Mon 20 May (Red Raw), Tue 4 Jun (Wicked Wenches); The Stand, Glasgow, Wed 5 Jun (Wicked Wenches); Gaiety Theatre, Ayr, Tue 18 Jun
I have always had a thing for dark haired, unshaven, slightly dishevelled gents. I’m a big fan of the sardonic drunk who turns up at parties to roll his eyes and make sardonic quips which is why Dylan Moran is not only my comedy hero but something of an icon for me. I was first introduced to him through Black Books and instantly fell
in love with Moran’s Bernard Black. There is nothing more entertaining and liberating to watch than someone else’s self-indulgence. Now, no sitcom is complete without at least one gloriously conceited man- toddler but before your Larry Davids and David Brents were glints in their creator’s eye, Black was the manchild’s poster boy.
As a stand-up, Moran, for me, is the pinnacle of observational
comedy. Instead of dealing with the airport/shopping/sexual humiliation-type universal experiences that are so exhausted by stand-ups, he probed the darker, more unsightly parts of our common psyche and using his own self as evidence, loudly proclaimed the universal ludicrousness of life. While other comics sat next to fat men on planes, Moran was doing jokes about why it was dangerous to realise your full potential. It was such a relief and a joy to hear his carefully crafted nihilism permeate the bland comedy landscape. Recently, I had the privilege of gigging with the man himself at The Stand in Edinburgh. With an upcoming tour he was road-testing new material and after 13 years of hero worship I was not disappointed. (Interview by Brian Donaldson) ■ See Dylan Moran interview, page 23.
Edinburgh ✽ John Cooper Clarke The Picture House, 31 Lothian Road, 0844 847
1740. 7pm. £16.50. See Thu 16. The Beehive Comedy Club Beehive Inn, 18 Grassmarket, 225 7171. 8.30pm. £7. See Fri 17. The Saturday Show The Stand, 5 York Place, 558 7272. 9pm. £15. See Thu 16.
The Sunday Night Laugh-In The Stand, 5 York Place, 558 7272. 8.30pm. £6 (£5; members £1). End the week with a dolly mixture of comedians. Jacques Barrett, Jojo Sutherland, Chloe Philip and Derek Johnston are the ones making you smile.