list.co.uk/comedy COMEDY
✽ The Friday Show The Stand, 5 York Place, 558 7272. 9pm. £12
(£10; members £6). See Thu 17, but with Davey Connor.
Falkirk ✽ Funny in Falkirk Various venues, Falkirk, 08444 818108. Times vary.
Prices vary. Falkirk delivers the mirth via live comedy, films and art with a top-notch line-up of familiar comedy faces, including Andrew Lawrence, Des Clarke, Janey Godley, Fred MacAulay and Phill Jupitus. Until Tue 29 Jul.
Saturday 19
Glasgow ✽ Derren Brown: Infamous King’s Theatre, 297 Bath Street, 0844 871 7648. 7.30pm. £27.50–£45. See Mon 14. Laughter Eight Vespbar, 14 Drury Street, 204 0060. 8pm. £8. See Fri 11, but with Chris Forbes, That Funny Blind Guy, Joe McKeown and Bruce Fummey. Jongleurs Comedy Club Jongleurs, The Glasshouse, 20 Glassford Street, 0870 011 1960. 8.30pm. £16. See Fri 18. The Saturday Show The Stand, 333 Woodlands Road, 0844 335 8879. 8.30pm. £15. See Thu 17 for line-up. Comedy @ The State The State Bar, 148 Holland Street, 332 2159. 9pm. £9
(£6). See Sat 12, but with Gary Little, Chris Forbes and Chris Broomfield. The 10 O’Clock Show Vespbar, 14 Drury Street, 204 0060. 10pm. £10. See Fri 11, but with Chris Forbes, That Funny Blind Guy, Joe McKeown and Bruce Fummey.
Edinburgh The Beehive Comedy Club Beehive Inn, 18 Grassmarket, 225 7171. 8.30pm. £9. See Fri 11.
✽ The Saturday Show The Stand, 5 York Place, 558 7272. 9pm. £15.
See Fri 18 for line-up.
Sunday 20
Glasgow Michael Redmond’s Sunday Service The Stand, 333 Woodlands Road, 0844 335 8879. 8.30pm. £6 (£5; members £1). See Sun 13; acts tba. Edinburgh FREE Stu and Garry’s Free Improv Show The Stand, 5 York Place, 558 7272. 1.30pm. See Sun 13.
✽ Frankie Boyle: Work in Progress The Stand, 5 York Place,
558 7272. 5pm. £7. See Sun 13. FREE Capital Comedy Club Moriarty, 161 Lothian Road, 228 5558. 6pm. See Sun 13. Footlights Comedy Edinburgh
S E A M U S R Y A N
Glasgow New Material Night Vespbar, 14 Drury Street, 204 0060. 8pm. £3. See Wed 16. Variety Club The Stand, 333 Woodlands Road, 0844 335 8879. 8.30pm. £10 (£8). Entertainment like they did it back in the good old days.
Thursday 24
Glasgow Vespbar Virgins Vespbar, 14 Drury Street, 204 0060. 8pm. £2. See Thu 10. The Thursday Show The Stand, 333 Woodlands Road, 0844 335 8879. 8.30pm. £10 (£7; members £5). With Nick Revell and Joe Heenan. Just Comedy Wild Cabaret & Wicked Lounge, 18 Candleriggs, 552 6165. 9pm. £5 (£10 with a sharing plate and drink). See Thu 10. Edinburgh Comedy Night Beehive Inn, 18 Grassmarket, 225 7171. 8pm. £3. See Thu 10. Men With Coconuts The Canons’ Gait, 232 Canongate, 556 4481. 8.30pm. £5 (£4). See Thu 10. The Thursday Show The Stand, 5 York Place, 558 7272. 9pm. £10 (£7; members £5). Bruce Devlin hosts Silky and Dan Nightingale.
Friday 25
Glasgow Laughter Eight Vespbar, 14 Drury Street, 204 0060. 8pm. £8. See Fri 11, but with Susie McCabe, Tony Coffey, Jonny Seaton and Benet George. The Friday Show The Stand, 333 Woodlands Road, 0844 335 8879. 8.30pm. £12 (£10; members £6). See Thu 24 for line-up. Jongleurs Comedy Club Jongleurs, The Glasshouse, 20 Glassford Street, 0870 011 1960. 8.30pm. £16. With Billy Kirkwood, Bryan Lacey and Stuart Mitchell. The 10 O’Clock Show Vespbar, 14 Drury Street, 204 0060. 10pm. £10. See Fri 11, but with Susie McCabe, Tony Coffey and Jonny Seaton and Joseph Goss. Edinburgh The Beehive Comedy Club Beehive Inn, 18 Grassmarket, 225 7171. 8.30pm. £9. See Fri 11. The Friday Show The Stand, 5 York Place, 558 7272. 9pm. £12 (£10; members £6). See Thu 24 for line-up.
MY COMEDY HERO DERREN BROWN King’s Theatre, Glasgow, Mon 14–Sat 19 Jul
Hopefully not being a comedian gives me licence to name someone who is well established. I can’t offer the names of any cool, underground subversives. He may still not be quite a household name in the UK but he’s undoubtedly at the top of the tree: my comedy hero is Louis CK. The best comedians, of course, make us look at life anew. They
teach us something worthwhile, but tend to offer themselves as a foil to avoid the sin of preachiness. Likewise, the quality of the message justifies the most indelicate jokes. The figure of the vulnerable sage is a potent one, and when this balance between high and low status is masterfully effected by an unassuming artist like Louis CK, it can leave us improved and stunned. Carlin did it in spades, so did Hicks and Lenny Bruce. Carlin I saw in
Vegas, and I found myself smiling rather than really laughing, but his penetrating power was indubitable. Louis CK, meanwhile, leaves me weeping every time. I have never met him, and am not sure I would want to: it’s easier to bask in someone’s work when you haven’t been inevitably disappointed by them in the flesh. It’s nice to have heroes, but stars only twinkle when viewed from afar. (As told to Brian Donaldson)
Footlights, 7 Spittal Street, 229 6466. 7.30pm. £3. See Sun 13. The Sunday Night Laugh-In The Stand, 5 York Place, 558 7272. 8.30pm. £6 (£5; members £1). See Sun 13, but with Nick Revell.
Monday 21 Glasgow Aye Right? How No’?: Comedy Countdown to the Referendum The Stand, 333 Woodlands Road, 0844 335 8879. 8.30pm. £7 (£5). Vladimir McTavish and Keir McAllister take on the independence debate with special guests Gary Little, Susan Morrison and Alan Bissett.
5 THINGS . . .
Edinburgh Red Raw The Stand, 5 York Place, 558 7272. 8.30pm. £2. See Mon 14, but with Nick Revell. YOU MIGHT NOT KNOW ABOUT . . . BRUCE MORTON
Tuesday 22
Glasgow FREE Pop-Up Comedy The Halt Bar, 160 Woodlands Road, 353 6450. 8.30pm. See Tue 15. Red Raw The Stand, 333 Woodlands Road, 0844 335 8879. 8.30pm. £2. See Tue 15; acts tba. Wednesday 23
1 In 1988, Bruce Morton became the inaugural winner of the So You Think You’re Funny? crown, a title claimed the following year by Phil Kay. Rhona Cameron and James Kirk are the other Scots who have taken that particular prize, and we could add Edinburgh-educated Miles Jupp as an honorary local victor if we’re feeling frisky. 2 Four years later, Morton was shortlisted for the Perrier Award alongside Jo Brand, John Shuttleworth and Mark Thomas (whatever became of those three?), and ultimate winners Steve Coogan and John Thomson (where are they now, etc?). 3 That show, Sin, grabbed the attention of the telly folk and in 1993 he had his own four-part Channel 4 series based on the deadly sins. For the channel’s Pot Night two years later, he presented Amsterdam by Night in which he stotted around the city’s cannabis cafés. To give you a bit of context, around that time Channel 4 aired the first episodes of Friends, ER and Father Ted. A decade later Morton was on the wireless interviewing fellow stand- ups for Comic to Comic, featuring Julia Morris, Jenny Eclair, Andy Parsons and Jeremy Hardy. 4 Alongside Andrew Learmonth, Morton has been fronting the regular ‘satire cabaret’ of Greater Shawlands Republic. ‘We seek autonomy for the Southside of Glasgow’ is their ultimate aim. Or maybe it’s just to make people have a good old laugh. Morton also likes to wear a beret and shades from time to time. 5 He’s recently been learning to play the mandolin. (Brian Donaldson) ■ The Stand, Glasgow, Thu 17– Sat 19 Jul.
Saturday 26
Glasgow Laughter Eight Vespbar, 14 Drury Street, 204 0060. 8pm. £8. See Fri 11, but with Susie McCabe, Tony Coffey, Ed Whitley and Struan Logan. Jongleurs Comedy Club Jongleurs, The Glasshouse, 20 Glassford Street, 0870 011 1960. 8.30pm. £16. See Fri 25. Glasgow Gong Show The State Bar, 148 Holland Street, 332 2159. 9pm. £5. See if you can go the full five minutes against the audience. 10 Jul–21 Aug 2014 THE LIST 71