Elf Lyons, Freya Parker and Joseph Morpurgo are in town for previews, and Title Fight returns for a summerslam of comedy bouts in this week’s best comedy picks around Manchester.
Title Fight returns for its summer bash as comedians once again go head to head with entirely new shows that they’ve had to create around a title given to them by their opponent. This month’s instalment features Lauren Stone, Beth Moore, Annabelle Devey duking it out, while ringmaster Jack Nicholls adjudicates. Always a pleasant surprise as the titles range from the mundane to the utterly absurd and the performers more than match that energy.
Another work in progress show, this time from Edinburgh darling and former Austentatious cast member Joseph Morpurgo. Here with his long awaited follow up to 2017’s Hammerhead, Morpurgo presents Highlander 70 which could mean a distant sequel to the 80s action/sci-fi classic or something even more obscure. Shrouded in mystery and a decade in the making, it’ll be a multi-media maelstrom that’ll no doubt innovate as well as entertain.
- Words:
- John Stansfield
- Published on:
- Mon 29 Jun 2026
XS Malarkey continues its assault on World Cup overkill by offering you the sweet respite of Elf Lyons and Freya Parker and their respective work in progress shows this Tuesday night. Parker’s Hour of Decay takes in growing old in a world of AI and skincare routines whilst Elf Lyons promises an observational, “completely normal” autobiographical hour that will almost certainly be anything but the norm.