COMEDY
Comedy is listed by date, then by city. Shows will be listed, providing that details reach our offices at least ten da s in advance of publication. Cogn: y listings compiled by Simone Ba r .
THURSDAY 8
Glasgow
Scott Capurro Cottier Theatre. CANCELLED.
Cheshire Cat Comedy Club Waxy‘s. 20 Candleriggs. 552 8717. 9.30pm (doors open 9pm). Free. Weekly. Tonight. compere Raymond Mearns introduces Sandy Nelson. David Kilby and Gary
Ha en.
Ve vet Cabaret Velvet Rooms. 520 Sauchiehall Street. Tickets are free but must be booked on 0141 338 2908. Sketches from the resident crew plus stand-up from guest Michael Redmond. An edited version is broadcast on BBC Radio Scotland the following night. Mischief Le Bar Cathedral House Hotel. 28 Cathedral Square. 552 3519. From 7pm. Free. Wild and weird bartending
action every Thursday. Friday and Saturday from the lrascible Tattoo-Faced Nomads and other ‘manifestations' of Glasgow‘s uniquely strange comedy performance troupe Mischief La Bas. The Mischief Banquet returns on Thu 5 Nov (see review). '
Edinburgh
Christie's Comedy Cellar WJ. Christie's. 228 3765. 9pm. £4 (£3). Joe Keenan hosts. and isjoined by Craig Crookston. Dougie Dunlop and Janey Godley.
The Stand 5 York Place. 558 7272. 8pm. £4 (£3). Stand debuts for Manchester- based Toby Hadoke and Glasgow-based double act Rutherford & Merson. joined by Jack Weatherall and compered by Joon Broon plus one open mic spot. Tartan Tantrum Comedy Club The Canon's Gait. Canongate. 8pm. £5 (£4). A new night resulting from a collaboration between Glasgow‘s Cosy Comedy Cafe. BBC Radio Scotland’s Velvet Cabaret and Paisley‘s Joke Box. The opening night sees Gerry Grant. John McGuinness. Billy Bonkers. Ria Din and Lee Ness compering.
FOOD & FROLICS Mischief Banquet
Glasgow: Cathedral House Hotel, first Thursday of each month 4r * as
Your average restaurateur would not allow his clients to be served by a band of lrascible Tattoo-Faced Food Bearing Nomads. Neil Butler, however, is no average restaurateur. The co-owner of Glasgow’s Cathedral House Hotel, Butler formerly ran the Zap Club, Brighton's home of bizarre cabaret.
It was there that Butler first encountered Ian Smith, the warped genius behind Mischief La Bas, Glasgow's many-headed hydra of eccentric performance. As many readers will know, the Mischief crew appears in all sorts of
Mad nomad: Ian Smith as Paxo Nectarine
unexpected places in up to 30 different guises - or ‘manifestations' as Smith prefers to term them. Among their past exploits have been cleaning the streets in teams of Elvises, infiltrating the festivities at Edinburgh's Hogmanay posing as flesh-eating plants, and staging a bovine fertility dance for Glasgow's Mayday celebrations.
The Tattoo-Faced Nomads (who, in all fairness, are more convivial than irascible) are a gang of culinary bandits assembled from the ranks of Mischief La Bas for this new monthly night of feasting and frivolity. Clad in white tunics, white toque hats, fake fur and camouflage netting, with faces painted red and black, they interact heartin but unthreateningly with dinner guests before and throughout the meal.
It should be stated that the meal itself is far from incidental. For the modest price of £17.50, diners may choose four courses from a menu offering two choices per course, plus vegetarian options. The food is well prepared, varied in flavour, plentiful in quantity and presented beautifully, though thankfully not by the Nomads themselves. Wine is extra, and can be chosen from a list of a dozen or more bottles; but the Nomads' activities are
included in the price.
Between courses, a Nomad (frequently Smith, in the role of Paxo Nectarine) regales the captive audience with peculiar tales and songs. The climax of the evening is an absurdist murder-mystery scenario, in which
several diners are assigned key roles.
I’d like to report that I acquitted myself in the part of an Austrian physician with all the elegance and subtlety of an after-dinner chocolate mint, but sadly it was not to be. The time having worn late, I was forced to grab my Gladstone bag and run for the last train to Salzburg.
(Andrew Burnet)
a Mischief La Bas can be found running Mischief Le Bar at the Cathedral House Hotel every Thursday, Friday and Saturday evening. The next Mischief Banquet is
on Thu 5 Nov.
I .41.
FRIDAY 9 Glasgow Jerry Sadowitz Cottier Theatre. CANCELLED. Mischief Le Bar Cathedral House Hotel. 28 Cathedral Square. 552 3519. From 7pm. Free. See above. Thursday 1.
Edinburgh
The Stand 5 York Place. 558 7272. 8pm. £5 (£4). The hilarious Martin BigPig. joined by Toby Hadoke. Jack Weatherall. Rutherford & Merson and compered by Susan Morrison.
SATURDAY 10 . Glasgow
Jerry Sadowitz Cottier Theatre. CANCELLED.
Cosy Comedy Cafe State Bar (downstairs). 148 Holland Street. Charing Cross. 332 2159. 9.30pm (doors open 8.30pm). £5 (£4). Weekly comedy night organised by Billy Bokers.
Mischief Le Bar Cathedral House Hotel. 28 Cathedral Square. 552 3519. From 7pm. Free. See above. Thursday 1.
Paisley
Joke Box Mr P's Bar/Diner, 42 Wellmeadow St. Paisley. 561 7117. 10.30pm. Free. John Gillick headlines. joined by Kevin Spence. Joey Cooper and compered by Janey Godley.
Edinburgh
The Stand 5 York Place. 558 7272. 8pm. £6 (£4 unwaged only). Martin BigPig. Toby Hadoke. Jack Weatherall. Rutherford & Merson and compeer by Jane Mac Kay.
SUNDAY 11 Glasgow
Comic Club Blackfriars Underground. 36 Bell Street. 552 5924. Doors 8.30pm. show 9pm. £5 (£3.50). Resident compere Viv Gee introduces Gordon Brunton. Craig Crookston and Brian Henningan (see Laughing Bag).
Edinburgh
Whose Lunch Is It Anyway? The Stand. 5 York Place. 558 7272. l—3pm. Free. Enjoy inspired improvised comedy with a meal orjust drinks from resident duo Jack Weatherall and Paul Graham.
Pint-Sized Comedy The Stand. 5 York Place. 558 7272. 7.30pm. £2.50 (£2). Seven acts including Colin Ramone and host Allan Miller.
Tartan Tantrum Comedy Club Tron Ceilidh House. 9 Hunter Square. 226 0931. Information: 558 8178. 8pm. £5 (£4). Tonight‘s event features Dougie Dunlop. John McGuinness. Billy Bonkers and Ria Din. compered by Lee Ness.
Frank speaking: Lynn Ferguson is in Glasg
listings COMEDY
M.
ow with her Edinburgh hit on Thu 15
Comedy Off The Cuff Christie‘s Comedy Cellar. WJ. Christie’s. 228 3765. 9pm. £4 (£3). Improv madness with Raymond Mearns. Jill Peacock. Craig Hill and Joe Heenan.
Edinburgh
Red Raw The Stand. 5 York Place. 558 7272. 7.30pm. £1. Liane Ellis introduces eight or so absolute beginners and special guest John Gordon.
TUESDAY 15 Edinburgh Brian Hennigan's House Of Fun The Stand. 5 York Place. 558 7272. 9—1 1pm. Free to watch. £1 per person to play. Team up for big board games including ‘Name That Tuna‘ and ‘Mongoose Mayhem‘. Fab prizes to boot. See Laughing Bag.
WEDNESDAY 14
Edinburgh
World Of Comedy Quiz Show The Stand. 5 York Place. 558 7272. 9-11pm. Free to spectators. £1 to play. Bill Dewar hosts and a £100 roll-overjackpot.
THURSDAY 15 Glasgow Lily Savage King's Theatre. Bath Street. 8pm. £9—£18.50. The first of three nights for the Blonde Bombsite from Mersey- side. No messin' — Lily gets straight to the point. or should that be bone? Lynn Ferguson In Frank Cottier Theatre. 357 3868. 8pm. £7 (£5). After a hugely success at the Edinburgh Fringe. Ferguson's show goes out on the Calder‘s Gilded Balloon autumn comedy circuit. Su port from Viv Gee and Jill Peacock. Ve vet Cabaret Velvet Rooms. 520 Sauchiehall Street. Tickets are free but must be booked on 0141 338 2908. Lynn Ferguson and Lee Ness are the stand-up guests who‘ll be joining the regular team for topical sketches. A shortened version of the show is broadcast tomorrow night on BBC Radio Scotland. Mischief Le Bar Cathedral House Hotel. 28 Cathedral Square. 552 3519. From 7 m. Free. See above. Thursday 1. Chesire Cat Comedy Club Waxy's. 20 Candleriggs. 552 8717. 9.30pm (doors open at 9pm). Free. Weekly. John McGuinness. Skank. Hugh Reed and Raymond Mearns compering. Cosy Comedy Cafe State Bar. 148 Holland Street. Charing Cross. 332 2159. 9.30pm (doors open 8.30pm). £4 (£3). Weekly comedy night. organised by Billy Bonkers.
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8—22 Oct 1998 THE LIST 69