Connor Burns: Vertigo
The Garage, March 21-24
What’s the basic expectation of a comedy festival? That you will laugh, right? It’s not that “funny” is all comedy shows have to be, but, let’s face it, it’s a pretty good starting point. And Connor Burns (not to be confused with the Tory MP for Bournemouth West; that’s Conor Burns) will make you laugh. Now based in Edinburgh, he’s been doing stand-up since 2017 and he’s now a master of the form. Last year he had a sell-out Glasgow Comedy Festival and tickets this year are already scarce. Lucky you if you have one.
Marjolein Robertson: Marj
Stand Comedy Club Glasgow, March 26 & April 8
Shetlander Marjolein Robertson is currently in the “next big thing” phase of her comedy career. And rightly so. Her identifying features - being an islander, the accent, having ADHD, a light-touch surrealism - are now well established enough for her to start to really stretch herself as a comedian. And so at last year’s Fringe, as well as performing in a historical play Me, Myself and Mary (Queen of Scots), Robertson’s stand-up show Marj saw her combine a Scottish folk tale with an account of real-life trauma, garnering five-star reviews.
Marj is the show she is bringing to Glasgow this month, so this is a chance to catch a Scottish stand-up who is about to reach escape velocity.
Rachel Jackson: American Horror Story
Stand Comedy Club, March 16
This work-in-progress show sees Jackson discuss her experiences living in America and her deteriorating mental health while there. The Edinburgh comedian is, I reckon, something of an overlooked talent; an open, warm-hearted, ambitious, funny oversharer, whose shows deserve a wide audience. American Horror Story sounds like she has set herself an interesting challenge of balancing light and dark. No doubt she’ll find the funny.
Luisa Omielan: Bitter
Oran Mor, March 30
Comedy theory number one. Luisa Omielan is the best stand-up in the UK. No? Well, let’s be conservative. She’s certainly in the top five. So, why, some of you might be thinking, don’t I know about her?
Oh, maybe some of you do. Maybe you caught What Would Beyonce Do?, her breakthrough Fringe show in 2012 either in Edinburgh or on the BBC. Or one of her subsequent shows: Am I Right, Ladies?, Politics for Bitches, or God is a Woman (currently on You Tube).
But, it’s fair to say, her status doesn’t match her ability (which is through the roof, quite frankly). In any case that’s all the more reason to check her out. Bitter is a political show about how the system is rigged and the social contract is broken. Is Omielan angry? Oh yeah. Is she funny? Always. The two things are not incompatible.
Sophie Duker Is On Fire
The Old Hairdresser’s March 24
When she’s not winning Taskmaster, Celebrity Pointless, Celebrity Mastermind or Richard Osman’s House of Games, Sophie Duker is a provocative, playful stand-up comedian who finds humour in identity politics, sexuality and is always ready to fly her freak flag. This work-in-progress show is a chance to see where she is going to go next.
Raymond Mearns Had a Stroke of Luck!
Stand Comedy Club Glasgow, March 30 & April 3
On the first day of last year’s Edinburgh Fringe the Glaswegian comedian Raymond Mearns had a stroke. He didn’t realise it for a couple of days, though. But eventually it forced him to cancel his Fringe run. The good news is that he has recovered and is now in a position to tell us all about the experience. Life-threatening illness is possibly not the ideal way to garner a new routine, admittedly, but, ultimately, everything is material.
Reverend Obidiah Steppenwolfe III & Guests
The Old Toll Bar’s The Red Door Club, March 31
I hate to remind you that you’re getting on, but the BBC’s Live Floor Show is now more than 20 years old. That means it has been two decades since you were giggling along to Craig Hill’s kilt-swishing and the Reverend Obidiah Steppenwolfe III (aka Jim Muir) and his twisted take on American tele-evangelism, heavy metal and old-time religion.
If anything, you’d imagine Trump and the rise of the religious right in America will have given Muir even more ammunition for his comedy character in the 2020s. Here’s your chance to find out.
Book Shambles
The Flying Duck, March 28
Fair warning, this is a live version of a podcast. But, to be fair, hosts Robin Ince and Josie Long are grand company and they like books which is more than enough reason to spend time with the pair of them and their unnamed special guest. Long is hosting a show at the same venue with a number of her comedy friends the night before if you want more trad stand-up fare, and she also has a work-in-progress show about giant extinct animals on at the Stand Comedy Club on March 29, so it’s fair to say she’s putting in the hours this festival.
Krystal Evans: Hospitality Horror Show
Blackfriars, March 28
It’s possible to get a double dose of Krystal Evans at this year’s Glasgow Comedy Festival. She is bringing her award-winning show The Hottest Girl at Burn Camp - about escaping a house fire - to Blackfriars on March 22. Just under a week later she’s back at the same venue with a new hour of material which draws on all her years working in restaurants. Breakdowns, celebrity gossip and the odd murder attempt are all on the menu.
Simon Evans: Have We Met?
The Glee Club, March 14
Simon Evans has always been a reliable, polished stand-up performer and his latest show, which touches on growing older and senior moments, sees him bring his wry, at times spiky, humour to bear on his own third age. His humour is as well-dressed as he is, so much so that sometimes you miss quite how sharp it is.
Old Firm Facts Podcast Live
The Garage, March 18
Those people are all old hands at the comedy game but among the debutantes is a fan of the beautiful game – Adam Miller, the man behind popular podcast Old Firm Facts, who is bringing his show to the live arena for the first time.
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