Scottish Comedy Highlights: June 2024
June's comedy gig guide brings some silly stand-up to Edinburgh and Glasgow, plus triumphant returns from Brian Butterfield and Lachlan Werner
Sun’s out, Funnies out! It’s time for June’s comedy highlights! Starting with some low-key events from local favourites, on 4 June we have work-in-progress gigs from posh boy comedy rapper MC Hammersmith (Monkey Barrel, 7pm, £7) and the latest jokes from Clydebank comic and co-host of Some Laugh podcast, Marc Jennings (Monkey Barrel, 9pm, £10/9). Same day at The Old Hairdresser’s, Glasgow Improv Theatre premieres a brand new show Oops Forgot My Lines! (8.30pm, Free), where an actor performs a scene from film, stage or TV, but the improviser hasn’t seen the script.
The following week, take your pick of something silly. Launched at the beginning of the year, Screen Time, hosted by Fearghas Kelly, brings Stand audiences a slice of unpredictable new multimedia comedy (The Stand, Glasgow, 13 Jun, 8.30pm, £5/8), this month featuring Yvonne Hughes and Ralph Brown. Elsewhere in Glasgow, the West End Mum herself, Zara Gladman, brings a raft of alter-egos to Òran Mór (13 Jun, 7pm, £10) following her show’s success at Glasgow Comedy Festival. The day after, Soup Group’s Phil O’Shea presents an evening of gleeful silliness, previewing his Edinburgh Fringe show and inviting the totally joyful Amelia Bayler to share the stage (Banshee Labyrinth, Edinburgh, 14 Jun, 7.30pm, £5).
Funny friends from further afield include: surreal observational US comic Chris Fleming (The Glee Club, Glasgow, 19 Jun, 7.30pm, £22.50, returns only); puppet twink Lachlan Werner (The Stand, Glasgow, 22 Jun, 5pm, £10/12); BBC New Comedy Winner Yuriko Kotani (Monkey Barrel, Edinburgh, 22 Jun, 8pm, £7), gearing up for her third full Fringe; and staple of the London comedy scene Laura Smyth (The Stand, Glasgow, 27 Jun, 8.30pm, £15.50). Finally, and much more seriously, is international man of bonbonbonbons, Brian Butterfield, delivering a VERY SERIOUS business talk. His Call of Now tour visits Edinburgh’s Queen’s Hall (23 Jun, 8pm, £27.50-£35.50) and Glasgow Pavilion Theatre (25 Jun, 8pm, £30.50-£35.50). Read his interview with the iconic Fringe Dog in this month’s issue… now.