Bored of straight stand-up? Try giving these niche nights a whirl.
There are more than 200 comedy venues in London, so we'd be lying if we said we were bored with the scene. But sometimes straight stand-up doesn't quite cut it. We like observational comedy as much as the next person, but if we hear another joke about women being neurotic or men leaving the toilet seat up, our heckles may turn violent.
So to keep our sanity in check and rekindle our love of laughter, we've put together a list of comedy nights that offer something unique. Be it comedy lectures, depraved stand-up or political satire, we've got you covered.
The Bright Club @ The Wilmington Arms
Monthly Tuesdays, 8pm
Entry: £5
Touted as the thinking person’s variety night, The Bright Club encourages laughter and learning by combining a bunch of interesting comedians and musicians with academics. Each event features an assortment of intelligent folk from nearby UCL, including psychologists, neurophysicists and engineers, who give a short, funny talk about their area of expertise, in relation to that night’s theme (such as ‘Life’, ‘Brains’, or ‘Happiness’). A comedian acts as MC for the evening, and musicians play a set halfway through and at the end of the evening. A very smart night, indeed.
The Alternative Comedy Memorial Society @ New Red Lion
Fortnightly Tuesdays, 8pm
Entry: £8
If Michael McIntyre is your idea of hell, then this could be the show for you. Featuring some of the UK's best young comic talent including Josie Long, Thom Tuck, John-Luke Roberts, and Nadia Kamil, this fortnightly comedy night is stuffed to the gills with leftfield comedians to ensure you enjoy an un-run-of-the-mill evening. Expect the unexpected.
The Decapitated Puppy @ The Intrepid Fox
Second Wednesday of the month, 9pm
Entry: £7.50
We love the wrongness of this club night's name. Brought to you by the devilishly dark Tyson Boyce and Bobby Carroll (who teamed up in 2009 with the tastelessly named Free Fringe show Someone Will Leave Pregnant and Bleeding...), club line-ups feature controversial comedians aiming to shock and thrill. Previous headliners have included the booze-addled singer/songwriter Loretta Maine with her band Dog Vagina and occult comedian Andrew O’Neill.
Fortnightly Tuesdays, 8pm
Entry: free
Lolitics @ The Black Heart
Third Monday of the month, 7:30pm
Entry: £5
Looking for something to tide you over between episodes of The Now Show? Lolitics is a political comedy night, for proper politics; at least, that’s what the show’s creator, Chris Coltrane says. Each month he sources a handful of political comedians to try out new material, while comedians who don't normally do political comedy are encouraged to give it a go. Acts are encouraged to focus on ideas first and jokes second, so expect high-brow and topical rather than easy gags. Popular topics include Tories, protests, economics, society, sexuality, science and religion, the environment and credit default swaps.
Festival of the Spoken Nerd @ Bloomsbury Theatre
After selling out months in adance during 2011, musical comedian Helen Arney, stand-up mathematician Matt Parker and Blue Peter science expert Steve Mould have moved their geeky gig to the Bloomsbury Theatre. There is a different theme for every show, and the team are always joined by a guest scientist and comedy headliner from the likes of Robin Ince and Alex Horne, to Radio 4's Dr Helen Scales and Dr Hugh Hunt of C4's Dambusters. There's always time for questions at the end, and extra marks are given for showing your workings.
An irreverant take on the TED lectures, Ben Target and Daniel Berg have created a special (and very popular) club in PLEB Talks which has so far held three events over 2011 in sceret locations released to online ticket holders 24 hours in advance. The comedy lecture series has picked up a big following already, with alternative comedians like Simon Munnery and Nick Sun debating and discussing big topics from the meaning of life, to riots and recession.
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