Comedy Picks of the Week ft. ft. Phill Jupitus, Sofie Hagen, Invisible Dot + more

Phill Jupitus (pictured) | The King’s Arms, Salford | Mon 6 Jul | 9pm | £10
The Greater Manchester Fringe Festival is now in full swing and continues throughout the whole month of July. Something of a patron for the festival, Phill Jupitus returns to perform for the third year in a row. This time he’ll donning his alter ego of Porky the Poet for more hilarious and heartfelt spoken word from the Never Mind The Buzzcocks man. If you fancy a bumper night of comedy then head down to the King’s Arms early for Gein’s Family Giftshop & Goose (free) at 6.30pm and Matt Bell & Paddy Carrigan at 8pm (£3).
www.ticketweb.co.uk

Glenn Wool | The Old Monkey | Wed 8 Jul | 7.30pm | £3
Canada has a great history of churning out fantastic comedians – and you can most certainly add Glenn Wool to a roster that includes Katherine Ryan, Tom Stade, Craig Campbell and many more. Glenn Wool is more Craig Campbell than the other two as he asks the big questions in life and puzzles over the bizarre minutiae of humanity. His upcoming Edinburgh show will tackle God’s plan for the unassuming Canuck, and it looks to be one of the picks of the festival.
www.wegottickets.com

Sofie Hagen and Chris Martin | Tiger Lounge | Thu 9 Jul | 7pm | £5
Another great international hope for the Edinburgh Fringe is Sofie Hagen, who is relatively new to the UK comedy scene – but has been making huge strides in announcing herself of a comedian of some repute through her social media presence and fascinating articles for the Huffington Post and Standard Issue. Here she will be previewing her show Bubblewrap alongside Chris Martin (no, not that one) who has been dubbed ‘one of the UK’s best observationalists’ by no less than the Guardian. Another cracking double bill at Tiger Lounge, it’ll be a real shame when they end as August approaches.
www.seetickets.com

Invisible Dot Cabaret | MIF Pavilion Theatre | Thu 9 – Sat 11 Jul | 10pm | £15/£12
The Manchester International Festival is usually quite the po-faced event, with barely a smile cracked as sincerity rules the day. But this year they have programmed a comedy section with the help of London powerhouse The Invisible Dot. Over three nights the Dot has collected its favourite London acts, and sprinkled a few more North West acts in for good measure. The likes of Canadian comedian Mae Martin, subversive sketch outfit Sheeps, bizarre character acts Natasia Demetriou & Ellie White and Manchester’s most reliable comic Phil Ellis will be on show in the Festival’s Pavilion Theatre in Albert Square.
www.mif.co.uk

The Skinny Spotlight Showcase | The King’s Arms, Salford | Sun 12 Jul | 7.30pm | £5
A special showcase of The Skinny NW’s monthly stand-up spotlight feature, collecting seven acts it has interviewed in the magazine over the past year or so as part of the GMFF. Handpicked by the no doubt really handsome comedy editor over at The Skinny, it will include the likes of Danny Sutcliffe, Sam & Tom, Will Duggan, Jack Evans, Jayne Edwards, Will Setchell and Norris & Parker. All for just five quid. Can’t say fairer than that.
www.ticketweb.co.uk

Thanks to @johnwinsagain