The best of the week's live comedy

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

Monday August 31

NOTTINGHAM: The week-long Robin Hood International Improv Festival gets under way in Nottingham, bringing more than 120 performers to the city from at least 19 countries. Highlights include Olivier Award-winning Showstopper! The Improvised Musical and acclaimed Japanese clown Oshow. Co-director Lloydie James Lloyd said the aim of the festival, now in its fifth year, was to 'build something international and ambitious, but that people can actually afford to be part of.' Website

Tuesday September 1

GUILDFORD: When he announced his Legend tour, Ricky Gervais declared cancel culture to be dead and that he can 'really say what the fuck I want now'... as if he'd been held back by niceties before. Find out what he does want to say when the tour kicks off at G Live tonight. Ricky Gervais tour dates.

BASINGSTOKE: In his new tour, kicking off at the Basingstoke Avil, John Cleese introduces a screening of the 1975 classic Monty Python And The Holy Grail, followed by a 45-minute Q&A with a local interviewer and questions from the audience. John Cleese And The Holy Grail tour dates,

TROON: Tam Cowan is best known as the long-standing host of BBC Radio Scotland's Off The Ball, and as the host of the monthly Aff The Baw comedy show at Blackfriars in Glasgow. Now he’s embarking on his first comedy tour across Scotland. Tam Cowan tour dates.

Wednesday September 2

MANCHESTER: Laughterama returns to Castlefield Bowl with five nights of open-air comedy, craft beer and street eats. Opening night features Stewart Lee, Fern Brady, Celya AB, Elis James and Ivo Graham - with future bills featuring the likes of Nick Mohammed, Nina Conti and Jack Dee. Laughterama listings and tickets.

CREWE: The UK's angriest news reporter, Jonathan Pie, is back on the road with his high-octane guide to surviving the impending apocalypse, kicking off at the Lyceum Theatre tonight. Jonathan Pie tour dates.

LINCOLN: Spike Milligan and Ronnie Barker’s story of The Phantom Raspberry Blower of Old London Town has been turned into a stage play that will tour the UK from today. The show, about a Jack the Ripper-style madman stalking the streets of Victorian London making fart noises, was originally conceived as a TV special for the Goons, and wound up as a serial on The Two Ronnies 1976 TV series. The tour kicks off at Southside today and runs to the end of November. Phantom Raspberry Blower tour dates.

Thursday September 3

GLASGOW: A generic blurb gives no indication of what Josh Pugh's new tour might be about, but it begins at the Glee tonight. Expect warm stories of being a shambling outsider, if past form is anything to go by. Josh Pugh tour dates

LIVERPOOL: The Hot Water Comedy Club is throwing a four-day comedy festival from today, staging more than 70 comedy shows at its Blackstock Market home. Today's line-up includes Chrissie Rock, Jamie Hutchinson and Rachel Fairburn.

LONDON: The Scaring is described as the biggest and most ambitious production yet from sketch trio Crybabies. It follows former priest Arthur Holland, who checks into a remote hotel and soon finds himself forced into an unlikely double act with the ghost of a long-dead guest. A scary three-week residency at Soho Theatre begins tonight.

Friday September 4

LONDON: Melbourne International Comedy Festival best show nominee Scout Boxall brings their storytelling show, God's Favourite, about trying to survive the worst night of their life, to Soho Theatre for two nights.

LIVERPOOL: A League of Their Own Live tour kicks off at the M&S Arena, hosted by footballing royalty and series veteran Jamie Redknapp, with team captains Jill Scott and Tony Bellew and comedian and ALOTO regular Tom Davis joining in the shenanigans. A League of Their Own Live tour dates.

CHELMSFORD: Also getting under way tonight Laura Lexx's new tour, Yo Yo, marks her ten-year marriage, celebrating the fact her husband sees every flaw and still professes his love… which certainly helps the old self-esteem. Laura Lexx tour dates

Saturday September 5

EDINBURGH: Sindhu Vee has extended her Swanky tour, beginning a new run of dates in the one city that's not been short of comedy of late… Sindhu Vee tour dates.

Published: 30 Aug 2026