Comedy Picks of the Week ft. Tim Key, Paul Chowdhry & more

Paul Chowdhry | The Dancehouse | Fri 26 Sep | 8pm | £14
The Stand Up for the Week host uses his initial’s double meaning with the pun-within-a-pun-titled show PC’s World. Chowdhry challenges cultural stereotypes and supposed taboos once more as he did with aplomb in his 2012 show What’s Happening White People? After another successful Edinburgh festival he is firmly established as one of the UK’s best acts both at home and internationally.
dancehouse.ticketline.co.uk

Group Therapy 2nd Birthday | Gorilla | Sat 27 Sep | 7pm | £10
Leading the charge for solid comedy nights in the city on a weekend, the champion lot at Group Therapy make like Jesus on their birthday and everyone else gets the treats! GT fave and hat wearer Ben Target, Nish Kumar, Mark Stephenson, Pat Cahill and Malcolm Hardee award winner Ed Aczel take the stage to dole out great gags and japes, while the organisers shower you with cake and Bill Burr DVDs. See our full preview here.
www.seetickets.com

Sketchole | The Lowry | Sun 28 Sep | 8pm | £10
A night that promises to be better than what’s on your telly gets its second outing, and since there’s not really been a good sketch show on British TV since Big Train, and the new season of Downton is even soapier than usual (sorry) we’re inclined to agree with them. The North West’s finest comics come together to create a rude and brilliantly crude sketch show that wouldn’t be out of place on the gogglebox. Cast includes recent Edinburgh Comedy Awards Winner Gein’s Family Giftshop and Edinburgh Comedy Panel Prize Winner Will Duggan, having lost Edinburgh Comedy Panel Prize Winner Phil Ellis.
www.thelowry.com

XS Malarkey’s 17th Birthday | Tue 30 Sep | 8.30pm | £5/3
The second birthday of the week is a mite more impressive than Group Therapy’s 2 years as XS Malarkey hits 17 and will hopefully start learning to drive. That amount of time on the scene earns you a heap of comedy friends that XS has helped give a start to. The puntastic Gary Delaney, 8 Out of 10 Cats regulars Alun Cochrane and Rob Rouse, and Alternative Comedy Memorial Society co-founder John-Luke Roberts join Toby Hadoke to celebrate a Manchester comedy mainstay. Long may it continue.
www.wegottickets.com

Tim Key (pictured) | The Dancehouse | Tue 30 Sep & Wed 1 Oct | 8pm | £15/12.50
Presumably putting on two shows so that those heading to the XS Malarkey birthday bash can still see Key, though it’s more likely the poetic master of phrase is just too damn popular and will more likely sell out the modest yet perfectly suited Dancehouse twice over, so head over to the link below to get your tickets immediately. One of the most original comedians working in the UK, and arguably the world, Key is wordsmith of the highest order.
dancehouse.ticketline.co.uk

Thanks to @johnwinsagain