Manchester comedy of the week FT Kai Humphries, Rory Marshall and Andy Barr

Edinburgh stalwart and alt-comedy dreamboat Andy Barr headlines XS Malarkey this week with another excellent lineup also featuring rising star Lulu Simons. Barr has four Fringe shows under his belt and has drawn praise from the likes of Tim Key and John Kearns along the way, so you’d be wise to seek him out this Tuesday.

Character comedy gets a well-needed shot in the arm from Rory Marshall and his Pathetic Little Characters at Fairfield Social Club this weekend. Claiming adamantly that these creations are indeed nothing like himself, this debut show was showered with praise at the Fringe last August, and there are big things ahead for this exciting new act.

One of Newcastle’s finest comes to town this Sunday evening for a “non-stop hour of laughter” as Kai Humphries stops by with new show Kaibosh. There are few with funnier bones than Humphries on the UK circuit, able to garner pure belly laughs from even the toughest audiences, as the quote from Alan Shearer on his ticket page attests. Anyone who has seen the ex-footballer’s bone-dry punditry will know that for him to say “Kai had me howling, we were all in bits” is quite the high praise.