Danger! Danger! High Vaultage | New London comedy festival... and the rest of the week's live stand-up

Danger! Danger! High Vaultage

New London comedy festival... and the rest of the week's live stand-up

The best of the week's live comedy.

Monday January 22

LONDON: Criminally under-famous Adam Riches starts a two-week run at the Soho Theatre, combining his usual ballsy audience participation with a succession of brash alpha-male characters to make a show that's spontaneous while still encompassing sharply absurd written jokes. He wrote this for Chortle last week in the guise of Gerard Butler, to publicise the London run.

GLASGOW: A double-bill of two of the acclaimed shows from last year's Edinburgh Fringe play Glasgow's Stand tonight: Fin Taylor smashing the complacent liberal moral consensus in Lefty Tighty Righty Loosey… while Kiri Pritchard-McLean tries to rebuild it again with Appropriate Adult. Both then move on to the Edinburgh Stand tomorrow.

Wednesday January 24

LONDON: There's been a festival in the railway arches beneath Waterloo Station for several years now… but this time there's special focus on comedy, with more than 125 shows scheduled over the next couple of months. Among those taking part are Joe Lycett, Bridget Christie, Richard Gadd, Phil Wang, James Acaster and Mat Ewins - who kicks off proceedings with his silly Edinburgh Comedy Award nominated show Adventureman 7: The Return of Adventureman, on for five nights from tonight. Sketch duo Thunderbards are also on today and tomorrow; while Liam Williams and Jordan Brooks are among those doing on a work-in-progress line-up tonight.

CHELTENHAM: There are a couple of mischievous provocateurs at the Howlers gig in the town hall tonight, in the shapes of Carey Marx and Fin Taylor, with affable Paul McCaffrey completing the line-up.

Thursday January 25

LEAMINGTON SPA: John Robins embarks on a UK tour of the show that won him the Edinburgh comedy award last August - an honour he shared with the stand-up swansong of Australian comic Hannah Gadsby. The Darkness Of Robins charts his reaction to the collapse of his relationship with fellow comic Sara Pascoe, and it's no spoiler to reveal that he didn't take it well - even though he tried to put a brave face on the torment. < a href="https://www.chortle.co.uk/shows/edinburgh_fringe_2017/j/26655/_john_robins%3A_the_darkness_of_robins">Click here for tour dates, which kick off at the Royal Spa Centre tonight, and for a review.

Friday January 26

BATH: Fresh(ish) out of I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here!, Shappi Khorsandi picks up a UK tour of her show Mistress and Misfit, all about Emma Hamilton - who the comedian feels has been sidelined by history as merely 'Nelson's mistress' when she is worthy of much more respect. The tour, kicking off at the Theatre Royal tonight, runs right through to June. Dates

Saturday January 27

CAMBRIDGE After supporting Katherine Ryan and Jenny Éclair, gossipy comic Stephen Bailey kicks off a tour of his show Can't Think Straight, a celebration of his working-class Northern roots. Schedule.

LONDON: Guesting on Anna Mann's Late Night Cheese & Sex Party - and if that title doesn't pique your interest, what will? - are a couple of fine comics, James Acaster and Kiri Pritchard-McLean. At Soho Theatre at 10.30pm.

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Published: 21 Jan 2018

Live comedy picks

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