Ivo Graham is at Lowry, SNL:UK‘s Freddie Meredith brings his award-nominated show to Fairfield Social Club, and there’s so much more coming up in November, including a new comedy festival at Red Arch.
Manchester’s most inventive comedy night returns with a banger of a lineup of off-the-cuff battles between comics given their “show titles” by their competitors. It’s a premise that sounds high concept, and is, but becomes simple as you settle in to watch the creme de la creme of Manchester’s alternative stand-ups (Molly McGuinness, Selina Mosinski and Anna Thomas appear this month) creating new masterpieces from throwaway suggestions.
If you like your comedy with more than a heap of anarchy, then you should check out Stamptown this Tuesday; if you don’t like seeing a flaccid penis or two, then maybe give this one a miss. Zach Zucker runs this chaotic cabaret with an incredibly unsteady hand on the tiller but a feel for the pulse of what is gut-wrenchingly funny. Nothing else matters, funny or die. This is Stamptown.
Fast becoming one of the best Scottish stand-ups in a pretty crowded field of contemporaries, CMB brings his second tour show to Manchester, where he’s “Howling at the Moon”. An evening of nocturnal stand-up about neurodivergence, sexuality and lunacy, he brings a newness to everything he touches on, but in the guise of an old master. A man out of time who knows exactly where he is. Go see your new favourite stand-up.
Irish comedian Catherine Bohart is back on tour with what promises to be her best show yet. Digging deep into the generational inheritance of worry and anxiety, Bohart plumbs the depths of her incessant and all-encompassing panic whilst making it light and, crucially, a bloody good laugh. Bohart is a joyful performer no matter how much she documents the daily trauma of being alive.
Fledgling stand-up night Car Park Comedy has gained rave reviews and die-hard fans in its short time in existence, and so MC and general comedy powerhouse Jess Perillo has decided to push it even further with a new comedy festival for the city. Test Drive features some of Manchester’s finest attempting new work-in-progress shows. This debut fest takes place over four action-packed days and features the likes of Molly McGuinness, Josh Jones, Charlie Ashton, Will Owen and more. This test drive looks set to be a real thrill ride.
SNL:UK‘s newest cast member Freddie Meredith brings his Edinburgh smash hit Need a Light? to Fairfield Social Club and promises an hour of pure vibes. Selling out the first show, a second-night show was quickly added and promises to deliver even more of Meredith’s awkward “David Brent for a new generation” aura that has already made him a favourite on the Sky iteration of SNL.
Grace Jarvis arrives with her debut tour and a stressful love story in Getting Dragged Backwards Through a Hedge at Cultplex on a cheerful Sunday afternoon. Self-described as “Australian comedy’s number one autistic glamourpuss”, you can expect a fine line in self-deprecation and an oddball, offbeat delivery you can’t help but be won over by.
Christmas comes slightly early, only for Sean Bean to take it away again. Character comedian extraordinaire Adam Riches is in town as his blustering alter-ego, Sean Bean, with a new festive game show slant on the Grinch tale. Adam Riches is one of the country’s best comics, and Sean Bean is one of our best actors, so you better believe this is a hilarious and healthy marriage of performer and persona. Come on down and save Christmas.
Ivo Graham doubles down on his love of yellow and red mixed together with Orange Crush, a salute to his favourite colour and a riposte to his daughter’s declaration that it was sad he didn’t have one (at the time) when asked what light on the spectrum he enjoyed the most. Eloquent to a fault and with some of the most satisfyingly brain-itching routines on the circuit, Graham is in fine form here, and you’ll leave wanting to paint the town orange for sure.
- Words:
- John Stansfield
- Published on:
- Tue 3 Nov 2026
XS Malarkey kicks the month with the final outing for Hannah Platt’s recent Edinburgh Fringe show. Cult Classic is the critically acclaimed follow-up to Platt’s smash hit debut Defence Mechanism, doubling down on her place as the poet laureate of downbeat Gen Z-ers. Turning trauma into hilarity is Platt’s stock in trade, and here she shows it in abundance.