COMEDY Edinburgh Gilded Balloon Comedy at The Studio at The Festival Theatre The Studio at The Festival Theatre, 22 Potterrow, 529 6000. 8pm. £15 (£13). New monthly venture from Team GB, kicking off in grand style with Dylan Moran, Kai Humphries and Larry Dean. Raymond Mearns does the compering. The Beehive Comedy Club Beehive Inn, 18 Grassmarket, 225 7171. 8.30pm. £9. See Fri 12.
✽ The Saturday Show The Stand, 5 York Place, 558 7272. 9pm. £15. See
Thu 8 for line-up.
Sunday 11
Glasgow Michael Redmond’s Sunday Service The Stand, 333 Woodlands Road, 0844 335 8879. 8.30pm. £6 (£5; members £1). Redmond brings on Elaine Malcolmson. Edinburgh FREE Stu and Garry’s Free Improv Show The Stand, 5 York Place, 558 7272. 1.30pm. See Sun 14. The Sunday Night Laugh-In The Stand, 5 York Place, 558 7272. 8.30pm. £6 (£5; members £1). Wayne Mazadza is doing his thing.
Monday 12
Glasgow Bobath Scotland Benefit The Stand, 333 Woodlands Road, 0844 335 8879. 7.30pm. £10. A night of laughs in order to raise funds for and awareness of Bobath Scotland – the country’s only dedicated cerebral palsy charity. Line-up includes the Lost Voice Guy and more. Edinburgh Red Raw The Stand, 5 York Place, 558 7272. 8.30pm. £2. With Chris Henry.
Tuesday 13 Glasgow Introduction to Improv Workshop Blackfriars, 36 Bell Street, 552 5924. 6–8pm. £80 for full course. Renowned comedy troupe To Be Continued . . . lead eight weeks of classes in improvisational comedy for those who’ve never tried it before or who need to refine their skills. All bases are covered, from character development to spatial awareness, and there’s the chance to take part in a performance at the end of the course. FREE Chris Henry’s Comedy Creche DRAM!, 232–246 Woodlands Road, 332 1622. 8–11pm. See Tue 16. Red Raw The Stand, 333 Woodlands Road, 0844 335 8879. 8.30pm. £2. See Tue 23.
Edinburgh ✽ Robin Ince: Blooming Buzzing Confusion The Stand, 5 York
Place, 558 7272. 8.30pm. £14 (£12). Ince explores free will. See preview, page 77.
Wednesday 14 Edinburgh 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 15 Glasgow The Thursday Show The Stand, 333 Woodlands Road, 0844 335 8879. 8.30pm. £10 (£7; members £5). With Steve Hall, Pete Cain, Elaine Malcolmson and host Raymond Mearns.
Friday 16
Edinburgh The Thursday Show The Stand, 5 York Place, 558 7272. 9pm. £10 (£7; members £5). With Addy Van Borgh, Jarlath Regan, Julia Sutherland, Gary Meikle and host Vladimir McTavish. Glasgow The Friday Show The Stand, 333 Woodlands Road, 0844 335 8879. 8.30pm. £12 (£10; members £6). See Thu 15 for line-up. Jongleurs Comedy Club Jongleurs,
78 THE LIST 11 Dec 2014–5 Feb 2015
LIVE COMEDY DVDS If ever there was evidence to suggest that some people should just leave their past glories well alone, it’s right there, deep inside Harry Hill: Sausage Time (●●●●●). While you can’t help but admire the nerve of a 50-year-old man jumping up and down on a mattress while singing songs from Hair, boundless energy isn’t always enough to cover up threadbare material. The slightly odd canned feel to the laughter may tell its own tale, even
though he does receive a (prompted) standing ovation. Given that he’s in Leeds, perhaps it was inevitable that Hill would make some reference to Jimmy Savile, but this routine is as regrettable and ill-advised as most of this very (very) long 80-minute show. If anyone deserves to be miffed at Savile, it’s the anti-PC brigade’s
poster boy. In Jim Davidson: No Further Action (●●●●●), the former Big Break host and Big Brother winner gets quite a lot off his chest about his many run-ins down the years with the old bill, culminating in a shambolic Yewtree investigation. Filmed in Shrewsbury, this is relentlessly old-school stuff in which Davidson delves into his Scottish heritage with endless impersonations of his alcoholic dad. While many commentators during his Fringe run admired Davidson’s technique, it’s surely not enough to cover up the blemishes of the lowest common denominator that his material sinks to time after time. More happy with his lot these days is Jon Richardson. In Nidiot (●●●●●),
he appears to have found true love, but this doesn’t stop him from being a 24/7 neurotic, whose hatred for humanity results in some funny swipes at everyone from Boris Johnson, a drunk girl on a train and (mainly) himself. With One Man, One Guvnor (●●●●●), Al Murray is on a mission to save Britain from itself, but the comedic magic he once had at his fingertips appears to be as trapped in the past as the Pub Landlord’s socio-political worldview.
After tackling religion, politics, love, ageing and the male member, We’re
All Going to Die (●●●●●) has Richard Herring taking a stab at mortality. His excellent hour-long Fringe show isn’t quite as compelling when stretched to almost 90 minutes, but Herring is never a dull act, and he’s always capable of finding fresh nooks and crannies on a much-discussed subject. His traditional over-analysis of a text zooms in on Hamlet’s ‘whiny’ soliloquy and the ‘Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly’, while he amusingly spends far too much time dreaming up potential pun headlines about his own sticky demise. The best of this bunch is Lee Mack: Hit the Road Mack (●●●●●). While
his forename-sake, Mr Evans, opted for a DVD performance lasting over two hours, Mack’s show calls time at just over the hour-mark. But any suggestion that he might be short-changing the punters can be set aside by the fact that he piles in winning gag after winning gag. There’s nothing edgy or especially contemporary about this northern comic: he is quite simply a first-class entertainer with cheek and verve oozing from his funny bones. (Brian Donaldson)
The Glasshouse, 20 Glassford Street, 0870 011 1960. 8.30pm. £15. With Brendan Riley and Will-E. Edinburgh The Beehive Comedy Club Beehive Inn, 18 Grassmarket, 225 7171. 8.30pm. £9. See Fri 12.
The Friday Show The Stand, 5 York Place, 558 7272. 9pm. £12 (£10; members £6). See Thu 15 for line-up. Saturday 17
Glasgow Jongleurs Comedy Club Jongleurs, The Glasshouse, 20 Glassford Street, 0870 011 1960. 8.30pm. £16. See Fri 16. The Saturday Show The Stand, 333 Woodlands Road, 0844 335 8879. 9pm. £15. See Thu 15 for line-up. Edinburgh The Beehive Comedy Club Beehive Inn, 18 Grassmarket, 225 7171. 8.30pm. £9. See Fri 12. The Saturday Show The Stand, 5 York Place, 558 7272. 9pm. £15. See Thu 15 for line-up.
Sunday 18
Glasgow Michael Redmond’s Sunday Service The Stand, 333 Woodlands Road, 0844 335 8879. 8.30pm. £6 (£5; members £1). Time for Pete Cain and Gary Meikle. Edinburgh FREE Stu and Garry’s Free Improv Show The Stand, 5 York Place, 558 7272. 1.30pm. See Sun 14. The Sunday Night Laugh-In The Stand, 5 York Place, 558 7272. 8.30pm. £6 (£5; members £1). See Sun 14, but with Gabriel Ebulue.
Monday 19 Edinburgh Red Raw The Stand, 5 York Place, 558 7272. 8.30pm. £2. With headliner Gabriel Ebulue.
Tuesday 20
Glasgow Introduction to Improv Workshop Blackfriars, 36 Bell Street, 552 5924. 6–8pm. £80 for full course. See Tue 13. FREE Chris Henry’s Comedy Creche DRAM!, 232–246 Woodlands Road, 332 1622. 8–11pm. See Tue 16. Red Raw The Stand, 333 Woodlands Road, 0844 335 8879. 8.30pm. £2. See Tue 23. Edinburgh AMIS and Rowan Alba Benefit The Stand, 5 York Place, 558 7272. 8.30pm. £7 (£5). A bunch of comedians raise awareness and funds for Abused Men in Scotland and Rowan Alba, who support vulnerable people find a home of their own.
Wednesday 21 Glasgow Maz’s Maggie’s Benefit The Stand, 333 Woodlands Road, 0844 335 8879. 8.30pm. £8. Susie McCabe, Scott Gibson and Bruce Devlin get together to remember Maz Carruthers who passed away after a three-year battle with ovarian cancer and to raise funds for Maggie’s Cancer Care.
Thursday 22
Glasgow The Thursday Show The Stand, 333 Woodlands Road, 0844 335 8879. 8.30pm. £10 (£7; members £5). With Seymour Mace, Paul Thorne and host Martin Mor.
Edinburgh ✽Omid Djalili Edinburgh Playhouse, 18–22 Greenside Place, 0844 871 3014. 8pm. £24. The British-Iranian comedian brings his new show to an adoring public. See preview, page 75. The Thursday Show The Stand, 5 York Place, 558 7272. 9pm. £10 (£7; members £5). Bruce Morton, Dominic Woodward and host Susan Morrison.