Comedy of the week ft. Sofie Hagen, Chris Betts and Amusical

Chris Betts | Tue 2 Oct | The Bread Shed | 7.30pm | £5/3
No hangover for XS Malarkey after last week’s 21 st birthday celebrations as they present Canadian charm-pot Chris Betts. Making a welcome return to XS Malarkey after far too long away he lands in Manchester after a month of taking on audiences in Edinburgh. Quite literally, his show was titled ‘Chris Betts vs the audience’. There’ll be no such ruckus here, just off-kilter thoughts on everything from the commonplace to the taboo.
www.wegottickets.com

Amusical | Wed 3 Oct | New Adelphi Theatre | 7.30pm | £5/7
HAving just landed a pilot at Comedy Central now is the best possible time to see the most original comedy show in a while before everyone else jumps on the bandwagon. Comedians Kiri Pritchard-Mclean and Jayde Adams + band leader Dave Cribb give other comics the chance to sing their hearts out to the tune of their favourite musical. Last year’s Salford edition featured Jason Manford singing to a blow up doll so we’re intrigued to see what showstoppers might be involved this time around.
www.fatsoma.com

Sofie Hagen | Sat 6 Oct | Union Theatre | 7.30pm | £14
Another chance to see Sofie Hagen in the city this week after her ‘Secret Dinosaur Cult’ at the Manchester Podcast Festival on Thursday (read our full preview here) as she headlines Group Therapy at the new Union Theatre at the University of Manchester. As well as Hagen there’ll be a GT debut from Harriet Kemsley, up and comer Sophie Duker and Larry Dean holding the reigns as MC. A better Saturday night line up you won’t find in the country.
www.seetickets.com