The week's best live comedy

The best of the week's live comedy, picked from the 5,786 events Chortle currently has listed. Use our search panel to check our full listings by date and region.

Sunday January 21

BIRMINGHAM: Allyson June Smith, a circuit stalwart who has supported the likes of Katherine Ryan and Jason Manford - and was the first female stand-up to publicly play Riyadh in Saudi Arabia - is on her first tour this week, with a show entitled Little Smith Sunshine. She's at the Glee tonight and other dates are here

Monday January 22

LONDON: John Tothill won acclaim for his Edinburgh debut The Last Living Libertine last year - with Chortle's review praising his ' beautifully sculpted, fully-formed stage persona' and 'sheer pleasure of being in his company'. It's at the Soho Theatre for three nights from tonight, and a couple more in March,

CHELTENHAM: After his long run at London's Leicester Square Theatre, Stewart Lee heads out on the road with his latest tour, Basic Lee, which promises a back-to-basics approach to stand-up, but that aim - and the comedian himself - soon begins to unravel. Stewart Lee tour dates

Tuesday January 23

LIVERPOOL: The Philharmonic hosts the first night of a new tour from Jonathan Pie, the political commentator alter-ego of Tom Walker who's easily angered… understandable, since there's a lot to be easily angered about. Heroes & Villains examines his place on that moral spectrum as well as celebrating heroes ('nurses/Gary Lineker/24-hour off-licence proprietors') and taking a verbal blowtorch to villains ('the Tories/cyclists'). Expect iconoclasm and ranting. Jonathan Pie tour dates

Wednesday January 24

HIGH WYCOMBE: Adam Kay is back on the road with new tales of medical horrors. Undoctored, based on his second volume of NHS memoirs, was the biggest selling of all 3,500 shows at last year’s Edinburgh Fringe, shifting more than 23,000 tickets, before transferring to London’s West End for a further sell-out run. Kay said: ‘I’ve been blown away by the response to Undoctored and I’m excited to bring this show around the country to delight and disgust a whole new audience. I look forward to receiving hundreds of complaints on Twitter from people that I’m not coming to their particular village.’ Adam Kay tour dates.

Thursday January 25

OXFORD: Musical duo Jonny And The Baptists will be presenting a double bill in their new tour, which kicks off at the Old Fire Station today. The Happiness Index was based on the idea David Cameron introduced when Prime Minister to measure how joyful the people of this nation are. The duo – Jonny Donahoe and Paddy Gervers – describe it ‘a new personal and political show about our desire, and the country’s struggle, to just be happy’. And, of course, they point out the irony of Cameron’s initiative ‘given what he then did’. The other half of the show will be a greatest hits presentation entitled Ten Thankless Years

LONDON: Bawdy Brummie Lindsey Santoro brings Pink Tinge, her entertaining, blunt-talking debut show which showed off her skills as a circuit favourite, to the Soho Theatre for three nights.

Friday January 26

GUILDFORD: Jeff Innocent is also hitting the road with a greatest hits tour - which also happens to be his first. The 68-year-old has spent three decades on the comedy circuit, but winning the £10,001 British Comedian of the Year prize in 2021 and finding a new audience online has given his career a new lease of life. Jeff Innocent tour dates.

LONDON: Another fine Dulwich Comedy Experience at The MCT at Alleyn's features Amy Gledhill and Edinburgh Comedy Award winners Jordan Brookes and Sam Campbell,

Saturday January 27

MANCHESTER: Alexander Haddow begins a short six-night tour of her show Not My Finest Hour, about her missteps in life – including a long-ago affair with a married, very minor celebrity, who was 18 years her senior. The first gig as the Fierce Bar tonight. Alexander Haddow tour dates

SALFORD: Also kicking off her tour in Greater Manchester tonight is Alison Spittle, known beyond the live circuit for the Guilty Feminist and Wheel Of Misfortune podcasts. Soup, the show about her complex PTSD, and and how the cost of living affects mental health. But she says: 'It is funny, I promise!' Alison ​Spittle tour dates

Published: 21 Jan 2024