Manchester comedy of the weeK FT Rachel Fairburn, Chris Cantrill and Creatures Comedy Festival

Two more previews for XS Malarkey this week and its a whopper of a double bill with Rachel Fairburn’s new character show Side Eye and Mark Bittlestone’s debut show I Need A Straight Guy. Rachel’s new venture sees her sidestep her usual candid list of grievances in her brilliant stand-up and instead tread the line of a character comic with seven new personas expertly written and performed by Manchester’s finest. Much is hoped for from TikTok favourite Bittlestone in his first hour of stand-up that promises to touch on the same observations and taboos that have made him such a viral star.

Creatures of the Night Comedy Club has been flying the flag for late-night stand-up shows in Manchester for the last few years and they’re now dipping their toes into a full-fledged comedy festival. This Friday sees the 7-nights-a-week comedy club launch the Creatures Comedy Festival with a special gala show featuring some of their favourite acts and MCed by regular host Evan Desmarais. The festival runs for the preceding week and a half and features shows from the likes of Jordan Brookes, Maisie Adam and Fatiha El-Ghorri.

Chris Cantrill takes you on a middle-aged odyssey in his new show Easily Swayed, which gets its final Manchester outing before heading to the Edinburgh Fringe. Famed for his role as one half of comedy duo The Delightful Sausage, Cantrill looks set to cement himself as a raconteur of muck and misdeeds at this year’s festival with this tale of an overdue reunion gone awry, and also how he sometimes wears a cape.