If you can’t laugh at yourself, you might as well pay someone to be funny for you.
Glasgow will welcome back its annual International Comedy Festival on March 12th. The 18 day event will see 400 shows staged at 46 venues across the city, ranging from a number of pubs, bars and clubs such as Drygate, Yesbar, The Garage and Oran Mor to the Theatre Royal and Clyde Auditorium.
Festival Director Tommy Sheppard said; “This year the festival enters its teenage years- and it is growing up to be one of the most looked forward to events in the Scottish cultural calendar.”
Bratty adolescent tantrums aside then, the idea of the festival first emerged in 2002 from the organisers of the Glasgow Stand Comedy Club. The club had exceeded expectations during its first two years, opening seven nights a week to entertain a loyal and growing audience base. The first festival was held in March 2003 and proved an overwhelming success.
A first class entertainment programme will provide something for everyone. There will be shows for kids, films, exhibitions, theatre shows and of course stand-up. The BBC is putting on two workshops at The Stand Comedy Club on Monday 16th March and Monday 23rd March for beginners in comedy script writing. Both workshops are free however they are ticketed so book fast to avoid disappointed.
The programme involves big household names and new rising talent from Scotland and throughout the UK. Comics Stewart Lee, Susan Calman and Christian O’Connell bring their Edinburgh Fringe shows from last year to Glasgow for those who missed out.
Jimmy Carr, the ‘hardest working man in comedy’, will visit the Clyde Auditorium as part of his ‘Funny Business’ tour for two nights starting March 13. While tickets prices are slightly more expensive than other comedians, household name Carr already comes with the stamp of approval.
Capital presenter Des Clark once again returns to his comedy roots, bringing his Edinburgh Fringe show The Trouble with Being Des to his home town, in the iconic Citizen’s theatre.
Former winner of the Scottish Comedian of the Year Scott Agnew will be at State Bar on March 14th with his show Pointing Up which promises to take aim at the media, politicians and the whole establishment in general.
And the comedians are just as excited to come to Glasgow as we are to seem pop over.
David Bratchpiece, also known as Bratchy, has performed at the Glasgow Comedy Festival every year from the beginning and says his first show gave him an “incredible feeling”, adding, “I, like many Glasgow based comedians and performers, get rather excited at this time of year, as the run up to another GICF commences. This year I’m performing a solo show again, and delighted that it is in one of my favourite venues in the city – Yesbar.”
In her blog, Ana Morris refers back to her 2013 performance and says; “My Glasgow audience were fun, interactive and lovely – it’s been hard doing gigs in other places since!”
Chair of Glasgow City Marketing Bureau, Councillor Gordon Matheson says; “The calibre of the Festival programme is a strong reflection of why Glasgow enjoys an enviable worldwide reputation, both as a place to visit and as a city which can put on a show.”
Don’t worry if you’re nowhere near the city, the festival has teamed up with Virgin Trains, offering 20% for faraway comedy punters.
The Glaswegian’s natural affinity with comedy is once again being celebrated, with many a talented funny person descending on the city. Make sure to get your chuckle on this comedy festival.
