list.co.uk/comedy
Edinburgh FREE Whose Lunch Is It Anyway? The Stand, 5 York Place, 558 7272. 1.30pm. Stu and Garry improvise their way through your hangover. The Sunday Night Laugh-In The Stand, 5 York Place, 558 7272. 8.30pm. £6 (£5; members £1). Surreal Welsh- flavoured observations from Noel James, with Bob Graham, Tommy Mackay, Martin Bearne and Dee Custance.
Falkirk Pierre Hollins: Self Help for Cynics Behind The Wall, 14 Melville Street, 0844 481 8108. 8pm. £8 (£7). Hollins examines the plight of the no-longer hip. Part of Funny in Falkirk. Ro Campbell: Uttering Bad Shillings 20 Rocks, 1 Princes Street, 0844 481 8108. 8pm. £8 (£7). The Tasmanian/Scottish devil trawls his family tree. For more from him, see page 3. Part of Funny in Falkirk. Grangemouth Grangemouth Giggles Grangemouth Town Hall, Bo’ness Road, 0844 481 8108. 7.30pm. £9. Grangemouth better watch it doesn’t cut itself on the sharp wits of Scott Agnew, Kim MacAskill and Stu & Garry. Part of Funny in Falkirk.
Monday 25 Glasgow The Impenetrable Click The 13th Note Café/Bar, 50–60 King Street, 553 1638. 8pm. £3 (£2). With Scottish/American powerhouse Sarah Cassidy, Jazz Poetry Builder Will Setchell, Alan Scott and Geoff Gawler.
Edinburgh The Beehive Comedy Club Newbees Beehive Inn, 18 Grassmarket, 225 7171. 8pm. £2 (£1). New talent and new material. Gavin Webster: All Young People are Cunts Traverse Theatre, Cambridge Street, 228 1404. 8.30pm. £5. Webster lets us all know exactly what’s wrong with the yoof of today. Fit O’ The Giggles Out With the Old City Café, 19 Blair Street, 220 0125. 8.30–10.30pm. £3 (£2). New material night with Keara Murphy. Red Raw The Stand, 5 York Place, 558 7272. 8.30pm. £2. New talent headed up by Rory O’Hanlon and Tony Jameson. Falkirk Joe Heenan’s Movie Madness Behind The Wall, 14 Melville Street, 0844 481 8108. 6.30pm. £5. Going head to head with audience members in the comedy quiz are Heenan, Mark Nelson and Stu Murphy. Part of Funny in Falkirk.
Tuesday 26
Glasgow Red Raw The Stand, 333 Woodlands Road, 0844 335 8879. 8.30pm. £2. More new talent, with Davey Connor and Rory O’Hanlon showing how it’s done.
Edinburgh Breaking News The Stand, 5 York Place, 558 7272. 8.30pm. £6 (£5; members £3). A new topical show for The Stand. Raymond Mearns: Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Stress but Were Afraid to Ask Traverse Theatre, Cambridge Street, 228 1404. 8.30pm. £5. See Sat 23. Falkirk Best of Irish Comedy Behind The Wall, 14 Melville Street, 0844 481 8108. 8pm. £7. With Emerald-Isle entertainers Michael Redmond, Elaine Malcolmson, Niall Browne and Michael Legge. Part of Funny in Falkirk.
Wednesday 27 Glasgow Best of Irish Comedy The Stand, 333
Woodlands Road, 0844 335 8879. 8.30pm. £7 (£6; members £3). Featuring Martin Mor, Rory O’Hanlon, Trevor Browne and Michael Legge. Edinburgh Best of Scottish Comedy The Stand, 5 York Place, 558 7272. 8.30pm. £6 (£5; members £3). Representin’ this evening are Chris Forbes, Bruce Fummey, Bob Graham and host Joe Heenan. Vladimir McTavish: A Scotsman’s Guide to Betting Traverse Theatre, Cambridge Street, 228 1404. 8.30pm. £5. See Fri 22.
Falkirk Steve Day: Run, Deaf Boy, Run 20 Rocks, 1 Princes Street, 0844 481 8108. 7.45pm. £5. Day recounts the moving story of his decision to run the London Marathon. Part of Funny in Falkirk. Tom Stade Behind The Wall, 14 Melville Street, 0844 481 8108. 8pm. £10. Biting comedy with some magnificent laid-back storytelling thrown in. Part of Funny in Falkirk. Wendy Wason: Flashbacks 20 Rocks, 1 Princes Street, 0844 481 8108. 9pm. £5. The charming and fun Wendy Wason discusses why being born in the 1970s was probably best for everyone involved. Part of Funny in Falkirk.
Larbert Stables Stand-Up The Stables, Gerald Terrace, Stenhousemuir, 0844 481 8108. 8.30pm. £7. Queen of Cool Susan Morrison comperes, with Ray Bradshaw, Jay Lafferty and Keir McAllister. Part of Funny in Falkirk. Thursday 28
Glasgow ✽✽ The Thursday Show The Stand, 333 Woodlands Road, 0844 335 8879. 8.30pm. £8 (£7; members £4). Canada’s finest, Stewart Francis, brings his deadpan one-liners to the table, along with Michael Legge, Patrick Rolink, Trevor Browne and host Susan Morrison.
Edinburgh Fit O’ The Giggles @ Constitution Constitution Bar, 48 Constitution Street, Leith, 538 9374. 8.30–10.30pm. £5. Keara Murphy hosts. The Thursday Show The Stand, 5 York Place, 558 7272. 9pm. £8 (£7; members £4). Tonight features the talents of a man who inspired Frankie Boyle – Martin Mor – plus Keir McAllister, Nathan Caton and Caroline Robertson. Denny Comedy @ The Inn The Lantern, 162 Stirling Street, 0844 481 8108. 7pm. £17. Feisty gags from host JoJo Sutherland, alongside John McGoldrick, Asim Ali and Richard Melvin. Part of Funny in Falkirk.
Falkirk The Ginge, the Geordie and the Geek Behind The Wall, 14 Melville Street, 0844 481 8108. 8pm. £9 (£8). Highly acclaimed sketch show featuring surreal characters and 80s power ballads. Part of Funny in Falkirk.
Friday 29
Glasgow Foster’s Comedy Live @ highlight Highlight, UGC Building, 11 Renfrew Street, 0844 844 0044. 8.30pm. £12–£15. Crowd-pleasing banter with Craig Murray, Pete Johansson and Jim Park.
✽✽ The Friday Show The Stand, 333 Woodlands Road, 0844 335 8879.
8.30pm. £10 (£9; members £5). See Thu 28 for line-up. Jongleurs Comedy Show Jongleurs, The Glasshouse, 20 Glassford Street, 0870 011 1960. 8.30pm. £15. John Warburton provides everything from whimsical surreality to biting topical musings and
Comedy
PREVIEW STAND-UP CHRIS MCCAUSLAND Highlight, Glasgow, Fri 22 & Sat 23 Jul
As Rudi, the ever jovial market-stall owner, Chris McCausland cut a fine dash across CBeebies screens in Me Too! With Big Time, his upcoming Fringe show at the Pleasance Courtyard, he’s back reflecting upon childish things by wondering how time seems to speed up the older you get. When he was a kid, days and months took forever, but now life is an endless parade of birthdays, tax forms and gigging up and down the country.
As Britain’s foremost blind comic, McCausland has probably had to work harder than most to achieve stand-up success. ‘Logistically, I’ve needed to be more committed to doing comedy than some people; the travel is a pain for one thing. I may stick in people’s mind as the blind guy but you’re not going to get a gig at the Comedy Store unless you can do the job and you’ve got to go through the same hoops to prove that you’re at the same level as Stephen K Amos or Terry Alderton.’
While McCausland’s comedy rarely tackles his own disability, he can’t help but have opinions on the controversies which have erupted over the past couple of years, such as Frankie Boyle’s Harvey material and Jimmy Carr’s gag about maimed soldiers. ‘It doesn’t matter what you’re talking about, there are cheap jokes and there are clever jokes,’ says McCausland. ‘I won’t avoid a specific subject; I’ve got stuff about race that is clever enough so that the only people who get offended by it are the white people in the room. I don’t think disability should be out of bounds because when it comes down to it, disabled people are the first ones to have a go at themselves; you have to have a sense of humour because a lot of awkward, tricky, uncomfortable situations will happen to you and you have to be able to laugh them off.’ (Brian Donaldson) ■ See edfringe.com for full details on Big Time.
21 Jul–4 Aug 2011 THE LIST 49