COMEDY
Events are listed by date, then by city. Submit listings at least 14 days before publication to comedy@list.co.uk. Listings are compiled by Kirstyn Smith. ✽ Indicates Hitlist entry
Thursday 11 Glasgow FREE Pop-Up Comedy The Halt Bar, 160 Woodlands Road, 353 6450. 8.30pm. A free comedy event picking out some of the Scottish comedy scene’s freshest talent. The Thursday Show The Stand, 333 Woodlands Road, 0844 335 8879. 8.30pm. £10 (£7; members £5). The weekend sees Martin Mor hosting Steve Gribbin, Tiffany Stevenson and Neil McFarlane.
Edinburgh ✽ The Alternative Comedy Experience The Stand, 5 York
Place, 558 7272. 9.45pm & 6.45pm. £8 (£7). Here come some more of series curator Stewart Lee’s fave comedians. The set at 6.45pm features Susan Calman, Lou Sanders and Paul Foot. The show at 9.45pm features Susan Calman, Helen Arney, Alfie Brown and Henning Wehn. Thursday Notebook Beehive Inn, 18 Grassmarket, 225 7171. 8.30pm. £3. Ben Verth steps up to introduce the new talent and new material night with the occasional old-timer dropping by to polish their act.
Friday 12
Glasgow The Friday Show The Stand, 333 Woodlands Road, 0844 335 8879. 8.30pm. £12 (£10; members £6). See Thu 11 for line-up. Jongleurs Comedy Club Jongleurs, The Glasshouse, 20 Glassford Street, 0870 011 1960. 8.30pm. £15. With Patrick Rolink, Carl Hutchinson, Scott Agnew and Will-E. The 10 O’Clock Show Vespbar, 14 Drury Street, 204 0060. 10pm. £8 (£6). Host Viv Gee takes control of headliner Bruce Morton, with John Purves and Gerry McKelvie. Edinburgh The Beehive Comedy Club Beehive Inn, 18 Grassmarket, 225 7171. 8.30pm. £7. Ben Verth presents a weekend packed full of top local and visiting comedians to tickle your funny bone.
✽ The Alternative Comedy Experience The Stand, 5 York
Place, 558 7272. 9.45pm & 6.45pm. £8 (£7). Tonight’s 6.45pm show features Josie Long, Helen Keen and Kevin Eldon. The 9.45pm set welcomes the very busy Ms Long plus Fern Brady and 2012 Edinburgh Comedy Award nominee Tony Law.
Saturday 13
Glasgow The Comedy Explorer’s Alternative Comedy Club The Flying Duck, 142 Renfield Street, 564 1450. 8pm. £3. Get to grips with Andrew Learmonth and Sarah Cassidy’s alt. comedy night. Jongleurs Comedy Club 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). The granddaddy of Glasgow comedy venues continues to attract some of Scotland’s best comedians to its wee basement of joy. The Saturday Show The Stand, 333 Woodlands Road, 0844 335 8879. 9pm. £15. See Thu 11 for line-up. The 10 O’Clock Show Vespbar, 14 Drury Street, 204 0060. 10pm. £8 (£6). 62 THE LIST 11 Jul–22 Aug 2013
558 7272. 8.30pm. Some of the best comedians in the UK providing the laughs for a new series to be broadcast on Radio 4. Jo Caulfield Presents the Good, the Bad and the Unexpected The Stand, 5 York Place, 558 7272. 8.30pm. £5. Jo Caulfield hosts an evening of experimental stand-up, sketches and characters.
Thursday 18
Glasgow FREE Pop-Up Comedy The Halt Bar, 160 Woodlands Road, 353 6450. 8.30pm. See Thu 11. The Thursday Show The Stand, 333 Woodlands Road, 0844 335 8879. 8.30pm. £10 (£7; members £5). It’s good old Bruce Devlin playing host this weekend, alongside Zoe Lyons, Mike Milligan and Katia Kvinge. Edinburgh Thursday Notebook Beehive Inn, 18 Grassmarket, 225 7171. 8.30pm. £3. See Thu 11. The Thursday Show The Stand, 5 York Place, 558 7272. 9pm. £10 (£7; members £5). This weekend you’re treated to the talents of Noel James, Mark Simmons and host Susan Morrison.
Friday 19
Glasgow The Friday Show The Stand, 333 Woodlands Road, 0844 335 8879. 8.30pm. £12 (£10; members £6). See Thu 18 for line-up. Jongleurs Comedy Club Jongleurs, The Glasshouse, 20 Glassford Street, 0870 011 1960. 8.30pm. £15. Another night of laughter with Brendan Riley, Geoff Boyz, Steve Shanyaski and Patrick Rolink. The 10 O’Clock Show Vespbar, 14 Drury Street, 204 0060. 10pm. £8 (£6). See Fri 12, but with Teddy, Ross Leslie and Mark Allison. Edinburgh The Beehive Comedy Club Beehive Inn, 18 Grassmarket, 225 7171. 8.30pm. £7. See Fri 12. The Friday Show The Stand, 5 York Place, 558 7272. 9pm. £12 (£10; members £6). See Thu 18 for line-up.
Falkirk ✽ Funny in Falkirk Various venues until Tue 30 Jul. With the big
Edinburgh bash on the horizon, here’s a chance to see some acts preview their Fringe shows while others not doing the festival give an exclusive performance for the good people of Falkirk. Among those appearing are Dylan Moran, David Baddiel, Omid Djalili and Glenn Wool. See 5 Things, page 63.
Saturday 20
Glasgow Jongleurs Comedy Club Jongleurs, The Glasshouse, 20 Glassford Street, 0870 011 1960. 8.30pm. £16. See Fri 19 for line-up. Comedy @ The State The State Bar, 148 Holland Street, 332 2159. 9pm. £7 (£5). See Sat 13. The Saturday Show The Stand, 333 Woodlands Road, 0844 335 8879. 9pm. £15. See Thu 18 for line-up. The 10 O’Clock Show Vespbar, 14 Drury Street, 204 0060. 10pm. £8 (£6). See Fri 12, but with Teddy, Ross Leslie and Ross Widdowson. Edinburgh The Beehive Comedy Club Beehive Inn, 18 Grassmarket, 225 7171. 8.30pm. £7. See Fri 12. FREE Comedy Night Old Chain Pier, 32 Trinity Crescent, Newhaven, 552 4960. 9–11pm. Up-and-coming comedians entertain you to a pretty sweet backdrop and for absolutely no pennies at all.
MY COMEDY HERO KEIR MCALLISTER The Songbird Bar and Function Suite, Dunipace, Sat 20 Jul; Behind The Wall, Falkirk, Fri 26 Jul
The subject of heroes is a tricky one for comics. Where musicians seem to welcome the obscure and eclectic influence, one misplaced nomination from a comic and you’re walking into a world of pain. I once saw two comics come to blows over a conversation about Jerry Sadowitz. Jerry, I’m sure, would have heartily approved. I’m confident, however, that my choice will meet with nothing but passionate approval because without this man, it’s questionable whether there would be enough Scottish comics to even have a decent fight.
In 1992, when I was 17, I first saw Bruce Morton on his own TV series called Sin: a gangly Glaswegian with flailing arms that looked like they had four elbows each, shouting out jokes about the human condition. That was my Damascus moment; to hear a Scottish voice that wasn’t Connelly’s doing stand-up like they did in London, meant that the glimmer of that possibility truly existed for me.
The subsequent establishment of The Funny Farm, a comedy collective with Stu Who?, Parrot, and later, Fred MacAulay, cemented the arrival of alternative comedy in Scotland and paved the way for The Stand and the circuit that still exists today.
But it’s not just his legacy that we should appreciate: Morton is incredibly funny. His comedy has a cerebral gallusness, the swagger of the educated everyman; it’s aspirational while being unapologetically Scottish and he’s still innovating.
His monthly Greater Shawlands Republic gig not only seeks to
politically satirise these interesting times but re-frames stand-up in a cabaret setting with live music and interactive PowerPoint while his club set is an ambitious 20-minute deconstruction of the pub gag. Bruce Morton is still setting trends, is still one of the funniest and most
incisive voices on the circuit and I’ll fight anyone who says otherwise. Except maybe Jerry Sadowitz . . . (Interview by Brian Donaldson)
See Fri 12, but with Bruce Morton, John Purves and Derek Lewis. Edinburgh The Beehive Comedy Club Beehive Inn, 18 Grassmarket, 225 7171. 8.30pm. £7. See Fri 12. The Saturday Show The Stand, 5 York Place, 558 7272. 9pm. £15. With Raymond Mearns.
Sunday 14 Glasgow Michael Redmond’s Sunday Service The Stand, 333 Woodlands Road, 0844 335 8879. 8.30pm. £2. Michael Redmond returns with Neil McFarlane.
Edinburgh FREE Whose Lunch Is It Anyway? The Stand, 5 York Place, 558 7272. 1.30pm. Let Paul Graham and Stuart Murphy fire up all of your imaginations with yet another tasty slice of improv action. The Sunday Night Laugh-In The Stand, 5 York Place, 558 7272. 8.30pm. £6 (£5; members £1). End the week with this generally very chilled Sunday offering. Monday 15
8.30pm. £4 (£2). A fight to the death between improv experts Garry Dobson, Stu Murphy and Billy Kirkwood. Edinburgh Red Raw The Stand, 5 York Place, 558 7272. 8.30pm. £2. The Stand’s spankingly good new talent night, encouraging the latest comedy stars out of the woodwork. With Kai Humphries and Rick Molland.
Tuesday 16
Glasgow FREE Pop-Up Comedy The Halt Bar, 160 Woodlands Road, 353 6450. 8.30pm. See Thu 11. Red Raw The Stand, 333 Woodlands Road, 0844 335 8879. 8.30pm. £2. See Mon 15. Wednesday 17
Glasgow Scottish Huntington’s Association Comedy Night The Stand, 333 Woodlands Road, 0844 335 8879. 7.30pm. £6. Laughs in aid of a really good cause. Tickets also available on 0141 848 0308. New Material Night Vespbar, 14 Drury Street, 204 0060. 8pm. £3. See Wed 10.
Glasgow Improv Wars The Stand, 333 Woodlands Road, 0844 335 8879. Edinburgh FREE BBC: Radio 4 Extra Stand- Up Show The Stand, 5 York Place,