Now in its second decade (officially its 11th year) the Glasgow Comedy Festival is firmly established as the festival dedicated to comedy, showcasing the largest line up in Europe. It attracts some of the biggest names in comedy and features international talent specially selected from the US too.
Shows will take place across 86 venues and some of the bigger names performing at the bigger venues in Glasgow this year are Jimmy Carr, Harry Hill, Sean Lock and Chris Addison. If you love comedy, you really need to get yourself up to Glasgow for this brilliant festival to see some of the best names doing stand-up today.
We met Tommy Shepperd, Director of The Glasgow International Comedy Festival and owner of The Stand, one of the most famous comedy clubs in the country who travelled to NY last year and saw 64 acts in 5 days before he carefully chose the 3 acts he wanted to see perform in his hometown.
America Stands Up! This year features Kyle Kinane, who Tommy thinks will be the next Louis C.K, Liza Treygere and Dwayne Kennedy. The show takes place on the 30th March at The Stand Comedy Club call 0844 335 8879 for tickets.
I asked Tommy what acts he would love to host in Glasgow and he told me Billy Connolly and Craig Ferguson would be fantastic to have in Glasgow. Ferguson seems so comfortably successful with his late night chat show in the US, he said he’d love to see him come back to Scotland to perform.
Having been a prominent figure in Scottish politics and being a big fan The Thick of it, another dream act of his would be Armando Ianucci, not as a stand up but perhaps a retrospective or a talk….maybe one day, we’ll keep an eye out for that one in the future.
After a night out with Tommy and Fraser we got the scoop on who will be the hot tickets and ones to watch this year, see the list below and snap up your tickets early.
I love the sound of Julia Sutherland’s show, Fat Chance, she talks you through her weight loss in a gym, as she feels this represents the place that it all happened. Sanderson Jones apparently personally delivers every ticket sold to his show himself and describes his show as ‘digital comedy’ including social media and Chat Roulette.
If you’re a fan of 8 Out of Ten Cats you may have seen Kathryn Ryan, I think she’s funny and her show Nature’s Candy is all about proving that the things in life that can make us bitter can actually be quite delicious and hilarious, I’d go to that one.
I saw Josie Long at the Montreal Just For Laughs comedy festival and she was very funny, I see she has a show and I definitely recommend going to see her.
There’s also a lot of buzz around Tony Law, so much so that I have decided I will be going to see him in London at the Soho Theatre, so will let you know what I think of his show Maximum Nonsense.
So here’s my pick of the biggest names and some of the names to watch, tell me if you go and what you think, I’d love to know who you had a good laugh at.
Big Names & Hot tickets!
Jimmy Carr: Gagging Order Clyde Auditorium 23rd March
Andy Parsons: I’ve Got a Shed @ The Kings Theatre 20th March
Harry Hill: Sausage Time @ Kings Theatre 22nd March
Al Murray; The Only Way is Epic Tour 24th March
Chris Addison: The Time is Now Again @ Citizens Theatre 27th Mach
Fred McAuley: The First 25 Years @ Citizens Theatre 30th March
Sean Lock: Purple Van Man @ Kings Theatre 19th March
Hot tickets & The Ones to Watch!
Tony Law: Maximum Nonsense @ The Stand 19th March
Katherine Ryan: Nature’s Candy @ Blackfriars Basement 16th March
Josie Long; Romance and Adventure @ The Stand 31st March
Sanderson Jones: Comedy Sale @ Blackfriars Basement 26th / 30th March
Janey Godley: Godley Ungagged @ Oran Mor 29th / 30th March
Wendy Wason @ The Stand 20th March
Billie Kirkwood: Easily Distracted @ Blackfriars Basement 30th March
Julia Sutherland: This Happened & Fat Chance @ Vespar 23rd March / 25th March
Glasgow International Comedy Festival (14 – 31 March 2013)
The Glasgow International Comedy Festival is Europe’s biggest comedy festival with a reputation for bringing colossal headline acts to town and showcasing the best in emerging talent. The 2013 programme features comedy heavyweights such as Jimmy Carr, Sean Lock, Al Murray, Harry Hill and Paul Merton.