Shits & Giggles | Antwerp Mansion | Sun 31 Aug | 7.30pm | £5
Sensibly aligning their nights to bookend the Edinburgh festival Antwerp Mansion’s Shits & Giggles hasn’t skipped a beat and following Kate Smurthwaite’s stellar turn last month comes ‘Never Mind the Buzzcocks’ guest Gavin Webster. Arguably Newcastle’s greatest export since Brown Ale Webster is a daft but clever comic who’s mainstream look belies a surreal mind. Support comes from Richard Davenport and Dom Carroll with resident compere Roland Gent.
www.antwerpmansion.com

Gein’s Family Giftshop | The King’s Arms | Mon 1 Sep | 8pm | FREE
We’ve been banging on about Gein’s Family Giftshop, and how amazing they are, for as long as we’ve been featuring weekly comedy picks so we felt hyper-justified when Gein’s were nominated for ‘Best Newcomer’ at this year’s Edinburgh Fringe as well as a host of five star reviews. This show could well just be an hour-long lap of honour in their old haunt of The King’s Arms and they’d be well within their rights. Though it will also feature sketches from the foursome (the Kiri is silent), and turns from comedy pals such as Dotty Winters, Peter Brush and Kate McCabe.
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Fantastic Four | Sandbar | Mon 1 Sep | 8pm | FREE
Also returning from a month further North is Dead Cat swinger and leader of this Fantastic Four Red Redmond who takes up his residency once more at academia’s favourite watering hole as Mr Fantastic. A fun and welcoming comedy night that will this week play host to Freddy Quinne (The Invisble Woman), Tony Basnett (The Human Torch) and Danny Sutcliffe (most definitely The Thing). A strong foursome on any comedy bill, if you’re free on a Monday night, this is free on a Monday night.
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Sham Bodie (pictured) | The Castle | Thu 4 Sep | 7.30pm | £7
After an Edinburgh shaped gap in its schedule Sham Bodie returns with a night of food, comedy, music and fun. Music comes courtesy of Taylor and the Mason who themselves are a very funny folk act with hilarious hidden lyrics behind soaring harmonies. Character comedy comes in the form of the North West’s greatest living thespian Randolph Tempest and recently crowned ‘Princess’ of Bolton comedy Cassie Atkinson. Danny Sutcliffe pops up for the second time in this article and this week to present some meanderings of his mixed up mind. Also there will be Smug Bullseye in which you might win a speedboat but definitely lose some dignity.
www.wegottickets.com

Sun 31 Aug - Thu 4 Sep
Words:
John Stansfield
Published on:
Sun 31 Aug 2014