list.co.uk/comedy

now. Vote for the best of the new sketches and skits from local comedy types. members £1). See Sun 23 but with Seymour Mace, Stuart Mitchell and Chris Henry.

Comedy

Thursday 11

Glasgow Kevin Bridges: The Story Continues SECC, Finnieston

Quay, 0844 395 4000. 8pm. £30. See Thu 20. The Thursday Show The Stand, 333 Woodlands Road, 0844 335 8879. 8.30pm. £8 (£7; members £4). Improv larks from Stu & Gary, alongside a host of other jokers like Seymour Mace, Stuart Mitchell and host Martin Mor.

Edinburgh The Thursday Show The Stand, 5 York Place, 558 7272. 9pm. £8 (£7; members £4). Susan Morrison is pretty perfectly equipped with enough sharp wits to hold court over the like of Dave Fulton, Neil McFarlane and Fergus Craig. Friday 12

Glasgow Kevin Bridges: The Story Continues SECC, Finnieston

Quay, 0844 395 4000. 8pm. £30. See Thu 20. The Friday Show The Stand, 333 Woodlands Road, 0844 335 8879. 8.30pm. £10 (£9; members £5). See Thu 11 for line-up, but with Andy Clark. Jongleurs Comedy Show Jongleurs, The Glasshouse, 20 Glassford Street, 0870 011 1960. 8.30pm. £15. A beautifully varied line-up including Cole Parker, Kevin Gildea, John Gavin and Mark Nelson.

Edinburgh The Beehive Comedy Club Beehive Inn, 18 Grassmarket, 225 7171. 8.30pm. £5. See Fri 21. The Friday Show The Stand, 5 York Place, 558 7272. 9pm. £10 (£9; members £5). See Thu 11 for line-up. Saturday 13

Glasgow John Cooper Clarke The Arches, 253 Argyle Street, 565 1000. 7pm.

£16.50. Legendary Mancunian punk poet who is a spiritual godfather to the likes of Mike Skinner and Plan B.

Kevin Bridges: The Story Continues SECC, Finnieston

Quay, 0844 395 4000. 8pm. £30. See Thu 20. Jongleurs Comedy Show Jongleurs, The Glasshouse, 20 Glassford Street, 0870 011 1960. 8.30pm. £16. See Fri 12. Comedy @ The State The State Bar, 148 Holland Street, 332 2159. 9pm. £7 (£5). See Sat 22. The Saturday Show The Stand, 333 Woodlands Road, 0844 335 8879. 9pm. £15. See Fri 12 for line-up.

Edinburgh The Beehive Comedy Club Beehive Inn, 18 Grassmarket, 225 7171. 8.30pm. £7. See Fri 21. The Saturday Show The Stand, 5 York Place, 558 7272. 9pm. £15. See Thu 11 for line-up.

Edinburgh FREE Whose Lunch Is It Anyway? The Stand, 5 York Place, 558 7272. 1.30pm. See Sun 23.

Andy Zaltzman: Armchair Revolutionary The Stand, 5 York Place, 558 7272. 8.30pm. £10. Zaltzman presents a show doused in cutting satire, from the comfort of his armchair of course. See My Comedy Hero, page 59.

Monday 15

Glasgow Dara O’Briain SECC, Finnieston Quay, 0844 395 4000. 8pm. £21.

The Irish comedy star and host of BBC Two’s Mock the Week returns to Scotland with his observational craic.

Andy Zaltzman: Armchair Revolutionary The Stand, 333

Woodlands Road, 0844 335 8879. 8.30pm. £10. See Sun 14.

Edinburgh The Beehive Comedy Club Newbees Beehive Inn, 18 Grassmarket, 225 7171. 8pm. £2. See Mon 24. Red Raw The Stand, 5 York Place, 558 7272. 8.30pm. £2. See Mon 24, but with Chris Henry.

Tuesday 16

Glasgow Red Raw The Stand, 333 Woodlands Road, 0844 335 8879. 8.30pm. £2. See Tue 25, but with Steven Dick and Chris Henry. Edinburgh The Beehive Comedy Club Newbees Beehive Inn, 18 Grassmarket, 225 7171. 8pm. £2. See Mon 24. Jo Caulfield’s Comedy Collective The Stand, 5 York Place, 558 7272. 8.30pm. £5 (£4). Jo Caulfield hosts an evening of experimental stand-up, sketches, characters and there’s even a rogue game show featuring some of Edinburgh’s finest.

Wednesday 17

Glasgow Glasgay! Uni Comedy Gala Glasgow University Union, 32 University Avenue, 339 8697. 7.30pm. £6 (students £5). Some of Glasgow Uni’s funniest alumni in the shape of Susan Calman, Scott Agnew and Stephen Callaghan. Part of Glasgay. New Material Night Vespbar, 14 Drury Street, 204 0060. 810.30pm. £3. See Wed 26. Epilepsy Scotland Benefit The Stand, 333 Woodlands Road, 0844 335 8879. 8.30pm. £10. Raise funds for Epilepsy Scotland by listening to Billy Kirkwood, Raymond Mearns, Jojo Sutherland, John Gavin, Andy Sir and Matt Winning make you laugh. Edinburgh Beatnik Comedy The Tron, 9 Hunter Square, High Street, 225 3784. 8.30pm. £3 (£2). See Wed 26.

Sunday 14 Thursday 18

Glasgow Joan Rivers Royal Concert Hall, 2 Sauchiehall Street, 353 8000. 8pm. £28.50–£33.50. The New York diva and veteran of the stage returns for her first UK tour in seven years. See 5 Things, page 58.

Kevin Bridges: The Story Continues SECC, Finnieston

Quay, 0844 395 4000. 8pm. £30. See Thu 20. Michael Redmond’s Sunday Service The Stand, 333 Woodlands Road, 0844 335 8879. 8.30pm. £6 (£5;

Glasgow Alan Davies: Life is Pain Pavilion Theatre, 121 Renfield Street, 332 1846. 7.30pm. £25. Best known as Stephen Fry’s buffoon on QI and detective Jonathan Creek, Davies returns to his stand-up roots. The Thursday Show The Stand, 333 Woodlands Road, 0844 335 8879. 8.30pm. £8 (£7; members £4). Joe Heenan, Tanyalee Davis, Andy Sir and Pat Burtscher are utterly committed to making you smile this weekend. Promise.

STAND-UP JOHN BISHOP SECC, Glasgow, Mon 8–Wed 10 Oct

‘Two days ago I was sat with Edward Norton, Will Ferrell, Graeme Le Saux and Patrick Kielty,’ John Bishop marvels. ‘Then Edwin van der Sar joined us, then Gerard Butler. We’re having a chat and Kenny Dalglish comes over and says, “Do you want a drink?” Now that’s a dream innit? The next scene has to be me naked in Tesco because it can’t be real.’ Playing football at Old Trafford for Soccer Aid. A ‘week of hell’, in

which he cycled, rowed and ran from the Eiffel Tower to Trafalgar Square for Sport Relief. Just two recent episodes prompting the Scouse comic to reflect on a life flipped upside down over the last three years. Eschewing his sons’ suggestion of My Dad’s Not That Funny, he called his new tour Rollercoaster. A 45-year-old millionaire, sat in an exclusive hotel in Glasgow’s West End, Bishop reasserts his everyman credentials with his ongoing bafflement by fame. His primetime BBC One vehicle John Bishop’s Britain and forthcoming Sky One series, John Bishop’s Only Joking, feature members of the public cracking gags alongside him.

Unwilling to interpret his charitable endeavours as simply a mid-

life crisis ‘everyday I’m trying to prove I’m not dying. But crisis implies you’re not happy with where you’re at’ he’s not fazed by the prospect of his kids leaving home soon. ‘If your comedy is like mine, based purely on “guess what happened last week”, you’ve got to figure something else will turn up in their place.’ Initially reluctant to return to arena touring, he dismisses the notion that audiences are too ready to laugh at famous faces. ‘Ten minutes grace is all you’ve got. You can’t disappoint because the expectations are so high. Stand-up is such a great leveller because no matter how big you get or are supposed to be, you still have to be funny.’ (Jay Richardson)

20 Sep–18 Oct 2012 THE LIST 61