Mother’s Ruin cabaret special ft Tall and Earnest, The Bobbysocks at Contact

Mother’s Ruin returns with a festive swag of drag, poetry, music, comedy and storytelling. One of the city’s finest and all-welcoming cabaret nights, the evening is hosted by Mrs Jon-Jo and Jana Kennedy – aka Tall and Earnest. It will also include scene veteran Gerry Potter-Poet, the swing trio The Bobbysocks, comic Jackie Hagan, the whiskery Timberlina, Sheela Blige (pictured) and PJ Hardly on the wheels of steel. An added bonus comes in the form of free entry for ticket-holders to RockHard – Manchester’s only gay rock and metal club night at Retro Bar, Sackville Street. Mother’s cabaret night (alumni include show stoppers like Dickie Beau), is seeking emerging queer performance artists from the North West to take part in Who’s Got The Max Factor? (Fri 7 Feb, £12). The winner, decided on the night by the audience and judges, will be awarded £250 and guaranteed a paid gig at Mother’s Ruin in 2014. Make contact here: info@rudegrrl.net. Find out more about Mother’s Ruin here.

Fri 6 Dec, Contact, Oxford Road, M15 6JA, Tel: 0161 274 0600, 8pm, £9 (£5 concessions), contactmcr.com