Comedy Picks of the week ft. Jonny and The Baptists, John-Luke Roberts & more

Sam Avery | South West Manchester Cricket Club | Fri 18 Apr | 7.30pm | £5
Good Friday is a great excuse for some drinking down at the local cricket club, and if you’re local cricket club is in South West Manchester then you’re in for an extra treat as Chorlton Chuckles sets up shop to entertain the masses, who haven’t been to mass. Headline act is Sam Avery, a young up and comer destined for great things. An upbeat raconteur, who is painfully funny and has an easy charm that you can’t help but engage with. Another stellar line up at Chorlton Chuckles, with Paul Moynihan and Damien Ryan in support, from a night that is fast making a case for leaving the city to find your comedy.
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Jonny and The Baptists | Royal Exchange | Sat 19 Apr | 6pm/8pm | £10
Though the UK Independence Party are somewhat of an easy target, the UK’s only blues comedy act have taken aim and lampooned them quite expertly. It helps that Jonny and the Baptists are also fine musicians. With an earlier show added due to popular demand, their uproarious satirical jams about the current state of the nation and those that love starting sentences with ‘I’m not racist, but…’ are a rare treat. Musical comedy at its finest.
www.royalexchange.co.uk

John Hastings | Sandbar | Mon 21 Apr | 8pm | FREE
As Edinburgh preview shows start to take full form and the notebooks comedians have been seen to fondle so carefully slowly take a back seat, stand ups seek out the best crowds to go and test out this newly made beast. The ubiquitous Red Redmond welcomes Canadian ex pat John Hastings to his Dead Cat Comedy Club to do an hour of his Edinburgh show that’s sure to impress. After winning the 2010 Homegrown Comedy Award in his native Canada, he has moved to London and made a big splash on the scene down in the big smoke. Now testing his show for the Fringe 2014 in front of the best crowd in the country (right?) it’s sure to be an absolute riot.
deadcatcomedy.co.uk

John-Luke Roberts (pictured) | The Pub/Zoo | Tue 22 Apr | 7.30pm | £5/3
Prolific writer (his credits include gags for Have I Got News For You and Never Mind the Buzzcocks), and avant garde stand up John Luke Roberts comes to XS with his own brand of conceptual thinking and jokes that invert upon themselves before revealing themselves to be even funnier than you could possibly imagine. A brilliantly intelligent comic and member of the highly regarded Alternative Comedy Memorial Society, which includes such luminaries as Josie Long, Tom Bell and Bridget Christie. The kids down at XS Malarkey have once again packed their bill with some of the greatest comics from the area with support from Adnan Ahmed, Helen Keeler and Steve Titley, all ably held together by king of the dorks Toby Hadoke.

Comedy At The Kings | Kings Arms | Thu 24 Apr | 7.30pm | £3
There aren’t many comedy nights that are supplying cake for their customers, so that’s why it’s with great ease one can say without question that Comedy at The Kings has the best cake in comedy. If there were an award, they’d definitely get it. It’s also a great comedy night with a welcoming atmosphere (did we mention the lovely cake?) with comics old and new vying for your laughs with great success. Come for the cake, stay for the comedy.
www.wegottickets.com