Manchester comedy of the week ft Phil Ellis, Katie Norris and Molly McGuinness

Two of the most exciting acts on the Manchester circuit road test their debut shows this Thursday as Molly McGuinness is joined by adoptive Manc Justina Seselskaite for a double preview. Molly is working on SLOB which takes in her rules for living life wonderfully by being as slovenly as possible, whereas Justina retells the story of her 2014 and settlement in Manchester from her native Lithuania.

Primarily known in this part of the UK as one half of Norris & Parker, Katie Norris is going it alone this Fringe with a new show entitled Farm Fatale. Since going it alone Norris has snapped up a win at the Musical Comedy Awards in 2023, and fans of N&P will be in doubt of this since the pair were synonymous with pitch-perfect parodies of popular songs. She’ll be at Fierce Bar with this exciting new show and will be winning over fans old and new.

Another double bill, another belter of a preview at Fierce Bar. Join Phil Ellis and Hannah Platt for a two-hander of their new Edinburgh Fringe shows this Sunday. After a nomination for Best Debut at the Leicester Comedy Festival, there’s a lot of heat around Hannah Platt’s first show Defence Mechanism, whereas Phil Ellis is coming off the back of a UK tour of his Edinburgh Comedy Award-nominated show from 2023. Two great shows from both sides of the Fringe comedy spectrum.