COMEDY
takes charge of Ian Coppinger, Graeme Thomas and Angela Barnes. Edinburgh The Thursday Show The Stand, 5 York Place, 558 7272. 9pm. £10 (£7; members £5). Bruce Devlin is joined by Phil Nichol, Andrew O’Neill, Mikey Adams and Ashley Storrie.
Friday 7
Glasgow Scottish Green Party Benefit Gig The Glad Café, 1006a Pollokshaws Road, 636 6119. 7.45pm. £10 (£6). Patrick Rolink hosts Alasdair Houston, Andy Reid and headliner Alan Bissett. All proceeds go to supporting the Scottish Green Party Jack Whitehall Gets Around The Hydro, Exhibition Way, 248 3000. 8pm. £28.50. Star of Fresh Meat and Bad Education on his first arena tour. The Friday Show The Stand, 333 Woodlands Road, 0844 335 8879. 8.30pm. £12 (£10; members £6). See Thu 6 for line-up, plus Katherine Tanney. Vespbar Comedy Club Vespbar, 14 Drury Street, 204 0060. 10–11.45pm. £8 (£6).. John Gillick headlines with support from Eleanor Morton and Gavin Lynch while Vic Gee does her MC thing.
Edinburgh ✽ Gilded Comedy Gala Usher Hall, Lothian Road, 228 1155. 7pm. £20.
Celebrate 100 years of the Usher Hall with Arthur Smith, Dylan Moran, Phill Jupitus, Doon MacKichan, Greg McHugh as Gary: Tank Commander plus comedy musos Barry Cryer and Ronnie Golden. The Beehive Comedy Club Beehive Inn, 18 Grassmarket, 225 7171. 8.30pm. £9. See Fri 21. The Friday Show The Stand, 5 York Place, 558 7272. 9pm. £12 (£10; members £6). See Thu 6 for line-up.
Saturday 8
Glasgow The Saturday Show The Stand, 333 Woodlands Road, 0844 335 8879. 9pm. £15. See Fri 7 for line-up. Vespbar Comedy Club Vespbar, 14 Drury Street, 204 0060. 10–11.45pm. £8 (£6). MC is the marvellous Viv Gee. John Gillick headlines with support from Eleanor Morton and Matthew Finlayson. Edinburgh The Beehive Comedy Club Beehive Inn, 18 Grassmarket, 225 7171. 8.30pm. £9. See Fri 21. The Saturday Show The Stand, 5 York Place, 558 7272. 9pm. £15. See Thu 6 for line-up.
Sunday 9
Glasgow Michael Redmond’s Sunday Service The Stand, 333 Woodlands Road, 0844 335 8879. 8.30pm. £6 (£5; members £1). See Sun 23. but with Richard Hunter. Edinburgh The Sunday Night Laugh-In The Stand, 5 York Place, 558 7272. 8.30pm. £6 (£5; members £1). See Sun 23, but with Gareth Mutch.
Tuesday 11
Glasgow Russell Howard: Wonderbox The Hydro, Exhibition Way, 248 3000. 8pm. £27.50. The energetic star of Good News and Mock the Week on tour.
Edinburgh Jo Caulfield Presents . . . The Speakeasy Scottish Storytelling Centre, 43–45 High Street, 556 9579. 8–10pm. £6. A relaxed evening featuring a diverse bill of artists telling true stories. 50 THE LIST 20 Feb–20 Mar 2014
Basura Picks of the Fest Comedy Club The Brunswick Hotel, 106–108 Brunswick Street, 552 1552. 7.45pm. £9–£10. A different comedian each time in this dolly mixture of fest faves. GICF. The Greater Shawlands Republic The Stand, 333 Woodlands Road, 0844 335 8879. 7.45pm. £11–£12. Monthly laughs in aid of the campaign for a free and independent Shawlands. GICF. Dabek and Marty’s Electric Circus The Flying Duck, 142 Renfield Street, 564 1450. 8pm. £3–£4. Paul Dabek and Martin McHendry present the very best in young up-and-coming comedy lads and lassies. GICF. Comedy Out West WEST Brewery, Building 4 Templeton Building, Glasgow Green, 550 0135. 8.30pm. £10. The best the festival has to offer packed into a neat little show each weekend. GICF. Scott Agnew: I’ve Snapped My Banjo String . . . So Let’s Just Talk The State Bar, 148 Holland Street, 332 2159. 8.30pm. £5–£8. Storytelling at its most salacious. GICF. The Sketch Social Tron Theatre, 63 Trongate, 552 4267. 8.30pm. £6–£8. Endemic, How Do I Get Up There? and magic boys The Colour Ham mix with stars of Scottish telly and rising talent for some sketch shenanigans. GICF. Wasasa Comedy Night Vespbar, 14 Drury Street, 204 0060. 8.45pm. £6–£8. A thought-provoking night of comedy hosted by the Kasengele Brothers. GICF. Best of SCOTY DRAM!, 232–246 Woodlands Road, 332 1622. 9pm. £8–£10. Scotland’s funniest (that’s previous winners and finalists of the acclaimed Scottish Comedian of the Year competition) do their worst. GICF. FREE Fraser Thomson’s Mostly Comedy Quiz The Grosvenor Café, The Grosvenor Theatre, Ashton Lane, 0845 166 6028. 9pm. A madcap quiz night that generates its own jokes. GICF. John Robins: Where Is My Mind? Blackfriars Basement, 45 Albion Street, 552 5924. 9pm. £10 (£8). Robins talks about living in the moment. GICF. The 10 O’Clock Show Vespbar, 14 Drury Street, 204 0060. 10pm. £8. Comedy talent from throughout the festival, hosted by the incomparable Viv Gee. GICF. Vespbar’s Late Late Show Vespbar, 14 Drury Street, 204 0060. 11.45pm. £5. Providing the laughs right up until the wee small hours. GICF. Edinburgh The Beehive Comedy Club Beehive Inn, 18 Grassmarket, 225 7171. 8.30pm. £9. See Fri 21. Portobello Comedy Night Dalriada, 77 Promenade, Portobello, 454 4500. 8.30–11.15pm. £10. Featuring Mark Nelson, Pearse James, Paul McDaniel and a special guest.
Saturday 15 Glasgow The Festival Club The Stand, 333 Woodlands Road, 0844 335 8879. Times vary. £15 (£12). See Fri 14. Lunchtime Comedy Club Mansion House, The Glasshouse, 20 Glassford Street, 553 4888. 1pm. £5–£10. A taste of the comedy platter from throughout the festival. GICF. Weegies Have Stolen the One O’Clock Gun The Vale, 5 Dundas Street, 332 4928. 3pm & 7.30pm. £4–£5. See Thu 13. Brothers and Sisters . . . It’s The Reverend Obadiah Steppenwolfe III The Stand, 333 Woodlands Road, 0844 335 8879. 5.30pm. £10.Star- studded chat show with a twist. GICF. The Good, the Bad and the Ugly Bastard Vespbar, 14 Drury Street, 204 0060. 7.30pm. £6–£8. Seppi, Graham and Joe: three comedians; three very different styles. GICF. Ray Bradshaw: I Dare Ray To Blackfriars Basement, 45 Albion Street,
CHARACTER STAND-UP JOHN KEARNS Blackfriars Basement, Glasgow, Sun 16 Mar
Sight Gags for Perverts is a very unusual show. John Kearns shambles on stage dressed in scruffy wig and false teeth before launching into a patience-testing song and rambling on about loneliness, failure and Berlin. ‘It’s basically me,’ says Kearns in his own persona. ‘I think all stand-up is an exaggeration of the person performing it. This was a way of saying true things by pretending it was someone else saying them.’ The show is part confessional, part character comedy, but all very, very funny. ‘It’s strange how many people came up to me afterwards and said they could relate to it, but quite a lot of people my age are wandering around trying to get some sense of worth and identity. For me I went a weird way about it so a lot of the show was true, unfortunately,’ he says with a wry chuckle. It also struck a chord with Edinburgh comedy judges and Kearns picked up the Best Newcomer award last August. ‘As Edinburgh went on, there was a sense of momentum and you just have to turn it up. I crashed when I came back, but when you’re on that stage you have to give it both barrels.’ Kearns proves that sometimes the audience also has to put in the effort for the best laughs, and parts of Sight Gags are purposefully uncomfortable and increasingly dark. ‘There’s that pause where the audience are looking at me, thinking, “How’s he going to get out of this?” But in my head I know. As a performer I don’t think there’s any greater feeling than that. You can make something as uncomfortable as you want just so long as you know where the fire exit is.’ (Henry Northmore)
Wednesday 12 8pm. £12. See Wed 12. GICF.
Glasgow The Fun Junkies The Stand, 333 Woodlands Road, 0844 335 8879. 8.30pm. £5 (£4; members £2). A madcap show from the How Do I Get Up There? sketch boys. Edinburgh Carl Donnelly: Now That’s What I Carl Donnelly! Volume V The Stand, 5 York Place, 558 7272. 8.30pm. £12. Silliness and hilarity from Edinburgh Comedy Award nominee, Mr Carl Donnelly.
Thursday 13 Glasgow Weegies Have Stolen the One O’Clock Gun The Vale, 5 Dundas Street, 332 4928. 7.30pm. £4–£5. Robin Cairns’ popular character Morningside Malcolm is back in another play pitting the Weegies against the Edinbuggers. GICF. Carl Donnelly: Now That’s What I Carl Donnelly! Volume V The Stand, 333 Woodlands Road, 0844 335 8879.
Friday 14 Glasgow The Festival Club The Stand, 333 Woodlands Road, 0844 335 8879. Times vary. £15 (£12). Five top acts from the festival get together for some late-night laughs. GICF. Joey Page: Golden Peacock Hour Blackfriars Basement, 45 Albion Street, 552 5924. 7.30pm. £7–£9. A little slice of the alternative from the surreal mind of Page. GICF. Libby McArthur: The F Word Vespbar, 14 Drury Street, 204 0060. 7.30pm. £6–£8. McArthur presents her one-woman show on being fabulous, frustrated, feverish, all manner of other ‘f’s. GICF. Weegies Have Stolen the One O’Clock Gun The Vale, 5 Dundas Street, 332 4928. 7.30pm. £4–£5. See Thu 13. West End Comedy Pub Crawl DRAM!, 232–246 Woodlands Road, 332 1622. 7.30pm. £12–£15. Four bars with a surprise comedian in each one (and as many drinks as you can manage). GICF.