Comedy Picks of the Week ft Gein’s, Nish Kumar + more

Gein’s Family Giftshop’s Bargain Basement | The Kings Arms | Mon 6 Apr | 8pm | FREE
Recently crowned Best Newcomer at the prestigious Chortle Awards (inexplicably presented by Nancy Dell’Olio) Gein’s Family Giftshop are still doing it for the love of the game. Here they present another bash at some new sketches, some old faves, and some comedy pals, all for the price of J-Lo’s love. For tonight’s installment of their bargain basement they welcome Peter Brush and Harriet Dyer into the fold, with Gein’s silent member Kiri Pritchard-Mclean proving that billing an oxymoron as she holds together proceedings with wit and a brassy charm.
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Nish Kumar | The Pub/Zoo | Tue 7 Apr | 8pm | £5/3
Having done an impeccable job hosting Group Therapy’s Ed Gamble show on Saturday Nish Kumar has decided to stick around to present his own tour show entitled ‘Ruminations on the Nature of Subjectivity’. No wait, come back, it’s really funny and not a bunch of pretentious twaddle. Kumar says he is presenting a ‘stand up comedy show for people who like stand up comedy shows’, so where better to do it than Manchester’s favourite comedy club. Critically acclaimed from the likes of The Guardian and Time Out Kumar is fast gathering comparisons to the likes of John Oliver for his ‘righteous passion and sardonic wit’, which in the current comedy climate is pretty much the highest praise you can receive.
www.wegottickets.com

Seann Walsh (pictured) | The Lowry | Fri 10 Apr | 8pm |£17
In his last show, the 2013 Foster’s Edinburgh Comedy Award nominated ‘The Lie-In King’ Seann Walsh took on the millennial dream, trying to get your life together, but mostly just trying to get out of bed. Naturally funny and with a slacker’s charm that other comic’s would kill for, Walsh manages to make stand up look effortless, which is a good thing because from the sounds of things he is no fan of effort. In this new show, he explains how he’s gone from being alone and trying to sort himself out to living with his girlfriend and sort himself out. Hardly groundbreaking stuff, but in Walsh’s hands it is fresh and funny.
www.thelowry.com

Shappi Khorsandi | The Lowry | Sat 11 Apr | 8pm | £18
Choosing a Zeitgeisty title in August for Edinburgh can sometimes bite you on the behind come the time to tour, but Shappi Khorsdandi’s ‘Because I’m Shappi’ is so infectiously funny and uplifting that you can’t hold the Pharrell pun against her for too long. Khorsandi is a rare breed of comic, one that seems to be enjoying both their life and their time on stage: Happiness is rarely a breeding ground for stand up comedians but that hasn’t stopped Shappi. She introduces the crowd to the various people in her life that have led to her doing her dream job. You’d hate her, if you weren’t falling in love with her so much.
www.thelowry.com

New Stuff | The Comedy Store | Sun 12 Apr | 7.30pm | £4/2
Though August might seem far away to most of us, comics always have one eye fixed firmly on the end of the summer months, even if they’re not going up to the Scottish capital. With New Stuff, Toby Hadoke has created  a fun and friendly gig for established acts to test the waters with, you guessed it, new material, or ‘stuff’ as it is sometimes known as. From years of holding the reigns of XS Malarkey and gigging worldwide Hadoke has a wealth of comedy friends all eager for a good gig to try out their brand new gags. This is that night, in case you were wondering.
www.thecomedystore.co.uk