The best of the week's live comedy

The best of the week's live comedy.

Monday September 10

LONDON: Cameron Esposito has won plaudits aplenty for her last special, Rape Jokes, which was described as 'powerful', 'daring' and 'hilarious' for tackling sexual assault from a survivor's perspective. Now she brings her new show, Person Of Consequence, to Soho Theatre for the week – her first time headlining in the UK. Click here for her Unforgettable Five gigs.

GLASGOW: American musical comedian and viral video star Stephen Lynch kicks off a seven-show visit to the UK at St Luke's. A proper muso who took the lead in Broadway musical version of The Wedding Singer, he calls himself 'a musician trapped in the body of a comedian'. Tickets

Tuesday September 11

LONDON: New Yorker Andrew Schulz – star of the 2015 ice hockey sitcom Benders, now on Netflix – comes to the Leicester Square Theatre for two nights with his show Views From The Cis, which promises his take on 'what it's like to be a young, red-blooded but unavoidably flawed young man in 21st Century Western society'.

NEWBURY: Marcus Brigstocke kicks off his new tour, Devil May Care, in which he imaginatively adopts the guise of Beelzebub himself - red face, horns and all - to offer his demonic take on the state of the world. The full schedule is here

Wednesday September 12

LONDON: The Greenwich Comedy Festival kicks off five days of unbeatable stand-up in the grounds of the historic National Maritime Museum, featuring the likes of Russell Howard, Sean Lock, Adam Buxton, Milton Jones, James Acaster and Sara Pascoe. Tonight's opener boasts Catastrophe's Rob Delaney, provocateur Fin Taylor and entertaining Everywoman Zoe Lyons. Many shows are understandably sold out, but there are still a few tickets to be had. Website.

BRIGHTON: With typical social relevance, Viceland star Jamali Maddix takes on the topics of racial identity and the far-right through a personal prism in his new show Vape Lord, which starts its UK tour at the Komedia tonight. Click here for a review and the full schedule.

ROMFORD: A musical version of the time-travelling sitcom Goodnight Sweetheart, first mooted as long ago as 2013, finally opens at the Brookside Theatre tonight for a brief run. Though not with Nicholas Lyndhurst, sadly. Creators Laurence Marks and Maurice Gran have described this a 'small-scale production' ahead of a hoped-for West End show.

Thursday September 13

LONDON: Wonderful storytelling comedian Chris Gethard  – whose acclaimed Career Suicide show was produced by Judd Apatow and who also starred in Mike Birbiglia's movie about an improv troupe, Don't Think Twice – performs two shows at the Bill Murray. The 8.15pm is sold out, but there are still tickets for the 10pm show at the time of writing. He's also on at the Bush Hall Presents show in West London tomorrow night, part of an ace line-up that also includes Andrew Maxwell, John Robins and Phil Wang.

LANCASTER: Jonty Stephens and Ian Ashpitel faithfully recreate the universal appeal of Morecambe and Wise in their tribute act, which starts a new tour - An Evening of Eric and Ern – at the Lancaster Grand tonight. Expect classic routines, songs and sketches and of course a musical guest. Schedule.

GREAT TORRINGTON: Hal Cruttenden starts his new tour of jolly middle-class commentary, here in North Devon. Its title, Chubster, was apparently chosen by his daughters, in a shameless example of fat-shaming. All the dates.

LONDON: Bridget Christie starts a run of her trying-to-get-past Brexit show So What Now? at the Leicester Square Theatre tonight, with various dates until November 10. It's a show about being a bleeding-heart liberal from the cosy middle classes struggling in the febrile state of current politics. She talks about the show here/

Friday September 14

ALDERSHOT Nish Kumar – double Edinburgh Comedy Award Nominee and host of BBC Two's Mash Report – hits the road for a mammoth tour of his incisively funny show about the state of the world, It's In Your Nature To Destroy Yourselves. Kicking off at the West End Centre tonight, it will keep him busy until the end of March. Schedule

IVYBRIDGE: And another tour! Zoe Lyons, a former winner of the UK Circuit Comedian title chosen by fellow stand-ups, kicks off a 42-date tour of her Entry Level Human show – about the dumb things we do as individuals and as a race – in Surrey. Schedule

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Published: 9 Sep 2018