Comedy of the week ft Rose Matafeo, Esther Manito and Ben Pope

A real treat at XS Malarkey this Tuesday as Ben Pope is in town with his latest tour show ‘The Cut’. Tickets are still ridiculously cheap and you get to see one of the country’s most insightful and circumspect comics talk about his recent circumcision. Toby Hadoke will be on hosting duties as usual and there’ll be some of the city’s best up and coming comics in support.

Righteous anger has never sounded so funny, and Esther Manito is backing up her exceptional debut tour ‘Hell Hath No Fury’ with a follow-up that leans even further into the ‘difficult woman’ label with new show ‘Slagbomb’. Manito is embracing the chaos and she’s never been better; juggling kids, aging parents and generally despairing at the state of the world, she comes through with fierce determination and a pretty disgusting sounding cocktail in hand.

Rose Matafeo and Alice Snedden (co-creators of the fantastic Starstruck on the BBC) started a podcast many years ago called ‘Boners of the Heart’ that had at least 100 listeners. They refuse to record consistently, yet they also refuse to cancel it. To keep those home fires burning the two kiwi best friends are putting on a live show this weekend in Manchester discussing everything from love to the climate crisis. Join them why don’t you.