Once again, it’s time for the month of love. Well, it’s only a day (officially) but you’d think it was longer. So, where better to celebrate with your beau than with a show where you don’t have to have a conversation? Even better, you get to sit down the front and hope the comedian asks you some awkward questions.
Jordan Brookes, Union Theatre, Saturday 1 February, £11 (£10 conc)
You can never be certain what you’re going to get with a Brookes gig and in this Edinburgh Comedy award-winning show I’ve Got Nothing, he purports to have just that. Nothing. Of course, what he actually has is a teasing, mesmerising, elegant show where no two performances are exactly the same. If you’ve not seen him yet, you really must.
Alexei Sayle, HOME, Saturday 1 February, currently sold out.
The second night of stand-up from the comedy legend.
Great Train Robbery, The Lowry, Saturday 1 February, £12 (£10 conc)
Scratchworks tell the story of the four (female) members of the great train robbery gang who got away.
Get your comedy lovin’ down at the Frog & Bucket and The Comedy Store. At the Frog, Tania Edwards performs her award-winning show Don’t Mention It on Sunday 9th, Paul Daniels’ nephew and a magician in his own right James Phelan is in with Troublemaker on Wednesday 12th and Irish podcaster Jarlath Regan pops by with Notions 11 on Sunday 16th. Then, former choirboy Lloyd Griffith visits with Not Just a Pretty Face on Sunday 23rd, Russian comedian Olga Koch returns with her second solo show If/Then on Wednesday 26th and, on Saturday 29th, Lucy Beaumont returns to the stage with Space Mam after taking time out to become a mum.
At the Store on Sundays 2nd and 9th, Jason Manford drops by with his Muddle Class tour show, on Wednesday 5th there’s a visit from a RuPaul’s Drag Race alumni with Holy T – Miz Cracker’s American Woman and on Wednesday 26th fabulous Glaswegian comic Janey Godley brings her The Soup Pot Tour of voiceovers and stand up.
Plus, there’s the regular monthly events including the King Gong show for the newbies on Sunday 2nd, two servings of New Stuff with Toby Hadoke on Sundays 9th and 23rd, then it’s Comedy Store for Kids on the afternoon of Saturday 15th and Alex Boardman showcases his favourite New Comedians on Sunday 16th.
The Lowry, Sunday 2 February
Comedy takes over The Lowry with seasoned observational Irish comic Ed Byrne in the big room with If I’m Honest… (£28.50), a man of many characters including the impish Lee Nelson, Simon Brodkin unusually appears as himself in 100% Simon Brodkin (£23.50) in the middle room but before all that Comedy Club 4 Kids (£14.50-£16.50) stand-up show for all the family is in the afternoon.
XSMalarkey, The Bread Shed, Every Tuesday, £3 (£6 nonmembers, £10 lifetime membership)
A further grand line-up of acts at the as-beloved-as-it-is-long-running comedy gig. Headliners this month are the effortless Carl Donnelly on Tuesday 4th, theatrical beardy Phil Jerrod on Tuesday 11th, acclaimed Australian Laura Davis on Tuesday 18th and the idiosyncratic Luke McQueen rounds off the month on Tuesday 25th.
Dead Cat Comedy, Seven Bro7hers Taproom, Fri 7 February, £10
Red Redmond introduces another fine line-up at the microbrewery. With all round rock god Andrew O’Neill and support from Ignacio Lopez and Chris Copestake.
Jamali Maddix, The Dancehouse, Friday 7 February, £13 (£11 conc)
The uncompromising yet fast rising stand up with his current take on the world in his latest show Strip Club Einstein.
Phoenix Nights, O2 Apollo, Friday 7 & Saturday 8 February, £20.70
Celebrating 19 years of the Peter Kay, Dave Spikey and Neil Fitzmaurice sitcom with some special charity screenings in aid of Cancer Research.
Josie Long, The Dancehouse, Saturday 8 February, £16
After taking time out to adjust to life as a new mum, Long returns with Tender which inevitably touches on her changed life but is also about “kindness, gentleness and joy”.
Katya and the Comedy Queens, O2 Apollo, Sunday 9 February,
Six of the best queens, as introduced by RuPaul’s Drag Race’s Katya, with Lady Bunny, Nina West, Sherry Vine, Manila Luzon and Baga Chipz.
Trapdoor Comedy, The Old Monkey, Tuesday 11 February, £5
Tony Basnett introduces Rob Kemp of the legendary Elvis Dead show fame, plus more.
Trapdoor Comedy, Solomons Café Bar, Wednesday 12 February, £5
Meanwhile in Withington, the tack sharp Jonny Pelham and genial Geordie Barry Dodds perform.
Harry Clayton Wright, The Lowry, Wednesday 12 February, Pay What You Want
WTF Wednesdays present Clayton Wright as he delves elbow deep into how we learn about sex in Sex Education.
Stephen Bailey, The Lowry, Thursday 13 February, £16-£18
Usually breezy and gossipy with Can’t Be Bothered, the Manchester native is up for a conversation with us about everything going on in the world.
Jayde Adams, The Lowry, Friday 14 February, £14 (£12 conc)
Adams dons her ‘serious black jumper’ to figure out what’s going on in The Ballad of Kylie Jenner’s Old Face.
Lou Sanders, The Lowry, Saturday 15 February, currently sold out.
One of the most innovative minds in comedy, the ever-kooky Sanders takes in spirituality and dispenses unwanted advice in her latest show.
Catherine Bohart, The Lowry, Sunday 16 February, £12 (£10 conc)
As sharp as the citrus fruit itself, Bohart brings her second solo show Lemon to Salford. An act who is certainly on the rise.
Jimmy Carr, The Lowry, Sunday 16 February, £33
Tidy one-liners from Carr as he returns to The Lowry for the second time with Terribly Funny.
John Shuttleworth, The Lowry, Wednesday 19 February, currently sold out.
Smothered in Deep Heat muscle rub, John Shuttleworth’s Back is playing up. But it’s not going to stop the former Sheffield security guard from regaling with songs both classic and freshly penned.
Kojo Anim, The Lowry, Thursday 20 February, £23
The Britain’s Got Talent finalist from last year with a solo show on The Taxi Tour.
Phil Wang, The Lowry, Friday 21 February, £16
The British Malaysian stand-up returns with his trademark brand of silly in Philly Philly Wang Wang.
Sam Avery, The Lowry, Saturday 22 February, £21.50
The former Learner Parent Avery updates us on what happens when the twins reach the toddler years in Toddlergeddon.
Adam Hess, The Lowry, Friday 28 February, £14 (£12 conc)
Like a bargain? Check out Hess. He has more gags per minute than most. He’s also funny. Here is My Grandad Has a Fringe.
Bourgeois and Maurice, HOME, Friday 28 February – Saturday 14 March, £15-£29 (£13-£27 conc)
World premiere of the most glamorous musical comedy duo’s latest show Insane Animals. The pair, sporting more make up than you can shake a trowel at and more glitter than is feasible, land on Earth to protect it from almost certain extinction.
Too Pretty to Punch, The Lowry, Saturday 29 February, £12 (£10 conc)
A comedy spoken word show about gender with ‘trans warrior’ Edalia Day. There will be banjos and poetry.
By Marissa Burgess, Comedy Editor
Main image: Bourgeois and Maurice’s Insane Animals. Courtesy of HOME.
