Definitely no-egg based Easter puns to see here. No, siree. Not this year. Just lots of comedy for April. In Manchester. So, peruse this little lot and try not to get too eggcited. Damn…
XSMalarkey, The Bread Shed, Every Tuesday, £5 (£3 members)
A month long run of great comedy as curated by XS. Kicking us off on Tues 2 is the pulling no punches New Yorker, Sara Barron. Jessica Fostekew and her smart stylings are headlining on Tues 9 with the kick ass Boltonian Sophie Willan on Tues 16. Then, the fast-up-and-coming newcomer, Ben Pope, rounds off the month on Tues 23.
Shappi Khorsandi, The Lowry, Wed 3 April, £18.50 (£16.50 conc)
As seen recently on I’m a Celebrity…, and heard lots on Radio 4, Khorsandi returns to stand up with Skittish Warrior… Confessions of a Club Comic.
Rhod Gilbert Opera House, Wed 3 April, £28.75
It’s been six years since Gilbert’s last stand up tour, but he returns to share with us the Book of John. Has he gone all religious? Only in the sense that when he hit rock bottom he met a bloke called John. Bound to be random and surreal in places and well funny.
Barking Tales, Zombie Shack, Wed 3 April, donations at the end.
The safe comedy space where the acts share their mental health issues, but with gags of course. This month with Michael J Dolan, Lydia Bernsmeier-Rullow, Tom Lawrinson and your regular host Harriet Dyer.
Mansion Comedy, Art of Tea, Wed 3 April, Free.
MC Roland Gent introduces Roger Swift, David Eagle, Graeme Rayner, Bill Sharples, Sarah Louise Keegan and Dan Baines in this lovely little Didsbury cafe.
Their clubs are like little temples to comedy, putting on show most nights in the week for the comedic pleasure of the city, but here are the extra shows the Frog and the Store have this month.
A whole new show is added to the monthly line up at the Frog and Bucket for Easter Sunday with the return of Sunday Night Live on the 21. Then the following Sunday (28) sees Bilal Zafar perform his latest solo show Lovebots. Elsewhere Jacob Hawley showcases his debut one man show Howl on Sun 14.
At the Comedy Store, the fun amateur night where the audience can get rid of an act they don’t like, King Gong is on the first Sunday 7th with Danny McLoughlin at the helm. Toby Hadoke oversees fresh material night New Stuff on Sundays 14 and 28 then for the little ones its Comedy Store for Kids on Saturday 20.
Marc Maron, The Lowry, Thu 4 April, £28.50
No holds barred comedy from the American comic. These days he’s best known for his hit podcast WTF with Marc Maron where he’s interviewed icons of comedy and popular culture.
Pamela DeMenthe, The Lowry, Thu 4 – Fri 5 April, £12
Erotic novelist DeMenthe presents her latest work, a time travelling prehistoric romp eVULVAlution.
Comedy at Chorlton Irish Club, Fri 5 April, £15 (£13 conc)
Paul Sinha of ITV’s The Chase fame isn’t just a great quizzer he’s a fab stand up comedian, too (he also used to be a doctor. There really is no end to his talents). Here, he performs his latest solo show, The Two Ages of Man.
Brennan Reece, The Lowry, Sat 6 April, currently sold out.
Manchester’s very own Reece with the third in his series of solo shows. Evermore sees Reece coming to terms with the end of his relationship but somehow he manages to be wildly funny within the poignancy. One to watch.
Stephen Bailey, The Lowry, Sat 6 April, £14.50 – £17.50
Another homegrown talent, breezily camp and wonderfully gossipy, Bailey has star material written through him. Our Kid is his latest hour.
Group Therapy, Gorilla, Sat 6 April, £12 (£10 conc)
The GT guys invite the Gaulier trained clown, Elf Lyons, to impress with her off the wall shtick.
An Afternoon with Brian Blessed, The Lowry, Sun 7 April, £28.50
Anecdotes galore from a lifetime in telly, plus some climbing exploits too. All delivered in that booming tone of his. No doubt there will be laughs aplenty.
Seann Walsh, The Lowry, Sun 7 April, £18.50
Having put away his dancing shoes after his stint on Strictly, After This One I’m Going Home sees this rising star returning to his observational comedy roots on a UK tour.
Tommy Tiernan, The Lowry, Sun 7 April, £23.50
Paddy Crazy Horse is the latest stand up show from Tiernan. He’s got to be one of the most beguiling comedy performers of our generation. Pertinent, political and ridiculous at the same time he’s a big star in his native Ireland and really should be bigger over here. As seen as the put-upon dad in Derry Girls.
Comedy at the Heatons, The Heatons Sports Club, Sun 7 April, £15 (£13 conc)
If you missed it in Chorlton on Friday here’s another chance to catch Paul Sinha’s latest show The Two Ages Of Man.
The Didsbury Comedy Club, Didsbury Cricket Club, Sun 7 April, £9.
While Sinha does his stuff at the Heatons, livewire Rob Rouse headlines the Didsbury club with brilliant gagsmiths Peter Brush and Mark Grimshaw in support and MC Justin Moorhouse.
Trapdoor Comedy, Old Monkey, Wed 10 April, £5
The mumbling, orange carrier bag lovin’, burger van enthusiast Angelos Epithemiou headlines Trapdoor this month. Plus support from the up and coming Sarah Callaghan.
Aziz Ansari, O2 Apollo, Fri 12 April, £44 – £56
The star of Parks and Recreation (and some unfortunate date etiquette questions last year) is on tour with Road to Nowhere.
Mo Amer and Guz Khan, Dancehouse, Sat 13 April, £25
Amer is an Arab American comic famous for his Netflix special The Vagabond recounting his life as a refugee comic, here he teams up with the star of BBC3’s Man Like Mobeen’s Khan for their Persons of Interest tour.
Gary Delaney, The Lowry, Sun 14 April, £18.50
The king of the one-liner continues to tour with Gagster’s Paradise.
An Evening with Katya Zamolodchikova, Opera House, Sun 14 April, £36.25
Star of RuPaul’s Drag Race Katya brings her new stand up show Help Me I’m Dying to the Opera House. Expect more than one persona to pop out too.
Rob Newman, Dancehouse, Thu 18 April, £14
Onetime one quarter of The Mary Whitehouse Experience and half of the first rock n roll comedy duo Newman and Baddiel, these days Newman is more likely to be found performing a show that will make you think as much as it does laugh. Here with Total Eclipse of Descartes he takes on the world of philosophy.
Gary Meikle, Dancehouse, Fri 26 April, £15
Scottish comedian and viral sensation Meikle tells about his life as a single dad and how he was a granddad before he reached 40 in The iBrow Guy.
Bert Kreischer, Dancehouse, Sat 27 April, £20
The seasoned American comedian whose stand up show Secret Time can currently be viewed on Netflix arrives with a new live show Body Shots tour.
Rob Auton, The Lowry, Sun 28 April, £12 (£10 conc)
Following on from his shows about hair, sleep, water, the sky and the colour yellow Rob Auton tackles The Talk Show. In that it will be about talking of course…
Comedy 4 Christies, The Lowry, Sun 28 April, £17.50
Line up yet to be announced, but it’ll be a top one for this annual charity night in aid of the world-famous cancer hospital.
By Marissa Burgess, Comedy Editor
