London Comedy: November

London Comedy: November

05 November, 2008
by: Emma

BIG.  B.I.G.  As Seen On TV.  This month is all about the BIG NAMES.  No - not new 'big names' like Catherine Tate or Katy Brand, not even old 'big names' like Roy 'Chubby' Brown and Lenny Henry (though the fact he's doing some secret London gigs this month is worrying).  Comics with real talent like Steve Coogan, Bill Bailey and Eddie Izzard are currently on tour and coming to London this November.  Woo Hoo!  Can we afford tickets? woo...oo.  Still; if the Westfield shopping centre can be boasting sales of over £500,000 in four days, clearly there's room in the kitty for a bit of comedy.  Who needs a new overcoat when you can pay to laugh so hard that beer comes out of your nose?

1)    Lee Evans

Sweaty, irritating maniac or observational genius?  Either way, his popularity can't be denied, his first o2 Arena shows last month saw a record 80,000 people turn up, beating the record Chris Rock set in May with 20,000. This month he has two gigs; one at Wembley and one more at the o2. Trying to argue the hilarity of Evans always induces a pitchfork-wielding mob so perhaps I'll just label these a 'must see' instead.

2)    Bill Bailey

Following a sell-out arena tour of the UK in 2007, and a sell-out tour of New Zealand and Australia in 2008, Bailey's Tinselworm tour is now coming to London for the final leg before it's put to bed. All the trademark Bailey versatility is there with music, observations, stories and a fair amount of silliness. Great stuff.

3)    Eddie Izzard

Having played all across America in 34 cities, the legendary drag comic has removed the heels and is playing it straight in his new show Stripped.  This has not however, detracted from his comedy, which is still as surreal, meandering and entertaining as ever.

4)    Steve Coogan

If you're a big Alan Partridge fan, you might well already have tickets for this.  The aptly named Steve Coogan and Other Less Successful Characters tour is showing for a week at the Apollo and sees Coogan reprise his role as an incompetent radio host amongst others like Saxondale, Pauline Calf and Tony Ferrino.  Early reviews of this were harsh; critics citing it as 'unrehearsed and slapdash' but judging from recent responses, these problems have since been ironed out and it's been getting much more complimentary press.

5)    Dylan Moran

Acerbic comedian and actor Dylan Moran, star of Black Books, is on a new tour which visits the Apollo, The Forum and Indigo2 for one night only towards the end of the month.  If you like rants about all kinds of things in general and dry humour with a bite, this is the gig to go to.

Something to note in December that's also worth mentioning (while tickets are still available) is Robin Ince's Nine Lessons and Carols for Godless People . Featuring Ricky Gervais , Richard Dawkins, Stewart Lee, Robin Ince, Josie Long, Richard Herring, the Martin White Mini Fax Machine Orchestra plus many more, this is a fractured variety version of the Royal Institute lectures mixing acclaimed evolutionary biologists with some of the best comedians and musicians in the business. The Bloomsbury gig on the 18th of December sold out instantly, as did the second they added due to demand.  Now, the Apollo is holding another show on the 21st December which has yet to sell out.  The fact that this falls on the one family event I can't miss this Christmas is grave news indeed, but there's still a chance for the rest of you, snap them up while you still can!

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Emma