COMEDY
Edinburgh Red Raw The Stand, 5 York Place, 558 7272. 8.30pm. £2. Valdemar Pustelnik and host Owen McGuire hang with the newbies.
Tuesday 20
Glasgow Red Raw The Stand, 333 Woodlands Road, 0844 335 8879. 8.30pm. £2. Weekly beginners’ showcase with Valdemar Pustelnik. Edinburgh MND Scotland, Maggie’s, Macmillan Benefit The Stand, 5 York Place, 558 7272. 8.30pm. £10 (£8). Keir McAllister, Bruce Devlin and more get together to raise funds and awareness for three worthy charities.
Wednesday 21
Glasgow Cystic Fibrosis Trust Benefit The Stand, 333 Woodlands Road, 0844 335 8879. 8.30pm. £10. Gary Little, Janey Godley, Stu & Garry and Scott Gibson perform for the charity.
Edinburgh ✽Joke Thieves The Stand, 5 York Place, 558 7272. 8.30pm. £6. In this show of two halves comedians perform their own sets and then attempt to mimic one another.
Thursday 22
Glasgow The Thursday Show The Stand, 333 Woodlands Road, 0844 335 8879. 8.30pm. £10 (£7; members £5). Bruce Devlin is joined by Jeff Innocent, Patrick Monahan and Julia Sutherland. Edinburgh Absolute Improv The Tron, 9 Hunter Square, High Street, 225 3784. 7–8pm. £5 (£3). See Thu 15. The Thursday Show The Stand, 5 York Place, 558 7272. 9pm. £10 (£7; members £5). Jo Caulfield gets to host this lot: Martin Mor, Liam Withnail and Bec Hill. Lucky.
Friday 23
Glasgow ✽Sam Brady: Kindness Artbar, The Old Sheriff Court Building,
Brunswick Street, 552 1810. 8pm. £8 (£6). Sam Brady talks about his struggles to become a good person. Laughter Eight Vespbar, 14 Drury Street, 204 0060. 8–9.30pm. £8. See Fri 16. Nancy Clench Presents . . . Southside Style! The Shed, 26 Langside Avenue, 649 5020. 8–10.30pm. £10 (£8). Nancy presents some of the southside’s best comedians. Part of Southside Fringe. The Friday Show The Stand, 333 Woodlands Road, 0844 335 8879. 8.30pm. £12 (£10; members £6). See Thu 22, but Keith Farnan replaces Patrick Monahan. Jongleurs Comedy Club Jongleurs, The Glasshouse, 20 Glassford Street, 0870 011 1960. 8.30pm. £15. With Michael Legge, Larry Dean, David Hadingham and Gary Little. The 10 O’Clock Show Vespbar, 14 Drury Street, 204 0060. 10pm. £10. See Fri 16, but with Joe Heenan, Dan Petherbridge, Craig Johnstone and Quincy Rammstein.
Edinburgh The Beehive Comedy Club Beehive Inn, 18 Grassmarket, 225 7171. 8.30pm. £9. See Fri 16. The Friday Show The Stand, 5 York Place, 558 7272. 9pm. £12 (£10; members £6). See Thu 22, but Bec Hill is replaced by Gareth Richards (see My Comedy Hero, page 63) and Phil O’Shea. 64 THE LIST 15 May–12 Jun 2014
TOURING SHOW DAWN FRENCH Pavilion Theatre, Glasgow, Tue 10–Thu 12 Jun
The thing about career-long double acts is that both members can find it virtually impossible to have much success outside of their established coupling. For every Rik and Ade or Vic ’n’ Bob perfectly capable of doing decent work on their tod, there’s a showbiz graveyard of Morecambes and Wises who weren’t able to do anything of much worth without having their comedy partner by their side.
Despite being an inherent part of the British cultural landscape from their beginnings in the alternative comedy boom of the early 80s to latterly spoofing Lord of the Rings and Titanic, French and Saunders have still managed to forge perfectly admirable individual identities. Whether you think The Vicar of Dibley or Ab Fab are any good is neither here nor there: the fact that the two women garnered massive success with those sitcoms is enough.
But going solo on a new TV show is nothing compared to stepping out onto a stage and doing your thing in front of a live, breathing and waiting-to-be-dazzled audience. Which makes Dawn French’s decision to pick this moment as the one in which she heads out on tour alone for the very first time as brave (or foolish) in the extreme. 30 Million Minutes finds her ‘sick with excitement’ as she regales us with tales from her busy life and career. As she further dictated to the person who typed this out onto her press release: ‘At last, I have one of my three genie wishes granted, which is that I finally get to work with [director✽ Michael Grandage. The other two wishes are as yet unfulfilled. They are secret obviously, but suffice to say, one is about Barack Obama in Speedos. The other is about me in Speedos, with cheesecake involved.’ (Brian Donaldson)
Saturday 24
Glasgow Laughter Eight Vespbar, 14 Drury Street, 204 0060. 8–9.30pm. £8. See Fri 16. Sarcassy Sneek’s Southside Shenanigans The Shed, 26 Langside Avenue, 649 5020. 8–10.30pm. £14 Fringe HQ. Sarcassy presents an evening of burlesque, the bizarre and the bold. Part of Southside Fringe. So You Think You’re Funny? The State Bar, 148 Holland Street, 332 2159. 8–10.45pm. £5. Hopefuls battle for a place in the competition’s heats. Jongleurs Comedy Club Jongleurs, The Glasshouse, 20 Glassford Street, 0870 011 1960. 8.30pm. £16. See Fri 23. The Saturday Show The Stand, 333 Woodlands Road, 0844 335 8879. 9pm. £15. See Fri 23. The 10 O’Clock Show Vespbar, 14 Drury Street, 204 0060. 10pm. £10. See Fri 16, but with Joe Heenan, Dan Petherbridge, Graham Stirling and Grant Tinney. Edinburgh FREE Capital Comedy Club Moriarty, 161 Lothian Road, 228 5558. 6–7.45pm. See Sat 17. The Beehive Comedy Club Beehive
Inn, 18 Grassmarket, 225 7171. 8.30pm. £9. See Fri 16. The Saturday Show The Stand, 5 York Place, 558 7272. 9pm. £15. See Fri 23 for line-up.
Sunday 25
Glasgow Bank Holiday Special The Stand, 333 Woodlands Road, 0844 335 8879. 8.30pm. £10 (£9). With Jeff Innocent, Keith Farnan, Julia Sutherland and host Michael Redmond. Edinburgh FREE Stu and Garry’s Free Improv Show The Stand, 5 York Place, 558 7272. 1.30pm. See Sun 18. Footlights Comedy Edinburgh Footlights, 7 Spittal Street, 229 6466. 7.30–10pm. £3. See Sun 18. Bank Holiday Special The Stand, 5 York Place, 558 7272. 8.30pm. £10 (£9). See above, but with Martin Mor, Gareth Richards (see My Comedy Hero, page 63), Liam Withnail, Phil O’Shea and Jo Caulfield.
Monday 26 Glasgow Work In Progress: Des Clarke,
Susie McCabe, Mark Nelson and Gary Little The Stand, 333 Woodlands Road, 0844 335 8879. 8.30pm. £7. Catch four circuit faves as they preview their Edinburgh shows. Edinburgh Red Raw The Stand, 5 York Place, 558 7272. 8.30pm. £2. See Mon 19. but with Ro Campbell.
Tuesday 27
Glasgow Red Raw The Stand, 333 Woodlands Road, 0844 335 8879. 8.30pm. £2. See Tue 20, but with Liam Withnail. Edinburgh Bright Club: Edinburgh The Stand, 5 York Place, 558 7272. 8.30pm. £5. Edinburgh’s academics share their tales about the weird, wonderful, and often very funny, world of research.
Wednesday 28
Edinburgh ✽Abandoman: Moonrock Boombox Summerhall, 1
Summerhall, 0845 874 3001. 7.30pm. £12.50. See preview, page 62. Fresh Mutton Comedy The Pear Tree House, 34 West Nicolson Street, 667 7533. 8pm. £2. Alt.comedy night featuring the underdogs of comedy. Best of Scottish Comedy The Stand, 5 York Place, 558 7272. 8.30pm. £6 (£5; members £3). With John Scott and host Raymond Mearns.
Thursday 29 Glasgow The Thursday Show The Stand, 333 Woodlands Road, 0844 335 8879. 8.30pm. £10 (£7; members £5). With Bruce Morton, Markus Birdman, Ro Campbell and Debra-Jane Appelby.
Edinburgh The Deuchars Beermat Fringe The Stand, 5 York Place, 558 7272. 5.30pm. £8. Over 25s get the chance to compete for a Fringe slot, simply by weaving the word ‘Deuchars’ into their set. Absolute Improv The Tron, 9 Hunter Square, High Street, 225 3784. 7–8pm. £5 (£3). See Thu 15. Men with Coconuts The Canons’ Gait, 232 Canongate, 556 4481. 8.30–10pm. £5 (£4). See Thu 15. The Thursday Show The Stand, 5 York Place, 558 7272. 9pm. £10 (£7; members £5). Joe Heenan hosts Roger Monkhouse, John Scott and Siân Bevan.
Friday 30
Glasgow Laughter Eight Vespbar, 14 Drury Street, 204 0060. 8–9.30pm. £8. See Fri 16. The Friday Show The Stand, 333 Woodlands Road, 0844 335 8879. 8.30pm. £12 (£10; members £6). See Thu 29 for line-up. Jongleurs Comedy Club Jongleurs, The Glasshouse, 20 Glassford Street, 0870 011 1960. 8.30pm. £15. With Rory O’Hanlon and Will-E. The 10 O’Clock Show Vespbar, 14 Drury Street, 204 0060. 10pm. £10. See Fri 16, but with Gary Little, Eddie Cassidy, Emily Rain and Tony Sloan. Edinburgh The Beehive Comedy Club Beehive Inn, 18 Grassmarket, 225 7171. 8.30pm. £9. See Fri 16. The Friday Show The Stand, 5 York Place, 558 7272. 9pm. £12 (£10; members £6). See Thu 29 for line-up.
Saturday 31 Glasgow Laughter Eight Vespbar, 14 Drury Street, 204 0060. 8–9.30pm. £8. See Fri 16.