Glasgow International Comedy Festival: Hurricane LOLbag

Over the last decade, Glasgow International Comedy Festival has established itself as the host of the single highest concentration of laughs on the west coast per annum. We take a look at what this year's programme has in store

Feature by Vonny Moyes | 12 Mar 2014

With calendars worryingly proclaiming it March already, and 2014 inching closer towards those more merciful months of the Scottish year, it’s time again for the Glasgow International Comedy Festival to treat the good people of the west to a month of premature sunshine. Now in its eleventh year, the well-established fest boasts a bigger and better line-up than ever. The programme runneth over with 416 shows throughout 46 venues, with events spanning the full chuckle-spectrum from stand-up, film, and theatre, to workshops and exhibitions. Guaranteeing something for every niche predilection, and every budget – even if that budget is an old-button, a well-intentioned thumbs-up and a tin of Lidl beans.

It’s a big year for the north; VisitScotland’s Year of Homecoming, the Commonwealth Games, the Ryder Cup, the tenth anniversary of the ever-more-prestigious Glasgow Film Festival and perhaps most important of all, the independence referendum on 18 September. We’re on the threshold of cultural, historical and political possibility; veritable ingredients of an explosive comedy nebula. With the role of the arts being to orate, challenge, respond to and inspire, it’s the perfect scenario for comedy to shout the loudest. The shows on offer at this year's festival are imbued with this patriotic zeitgeist; GICF is offering something a little more substantial than a cheap giggle with your mates. On Saturday 5 March The Homecoming Comedy Gala gives four comics from Australia and Canada a platform to celebrate their Scottish ancestry, as does The Commonwealth Stands Up on Saturday 22nd.

So who’s performing? Sure, the usual big-wigs will be trekking over the wall to do a turn. A pretty decent international roster in the form of Sarah Millican, Omid Djalili, Miranda Hart, Pam Ann, Sean Hughes, Ruby Wax, Rich Hall, Stewart Francis, and Miles Jupp to name just a few. For those eyeing up a little home-grown talent, you’re pretty much spoiled for choice too, with Des Clarke, Raymond Mearns, Susan Calman, Craig Hill, Rory Bremner, Hardeep Singh Kohli, Stevie Agnew, and Fern Brady all doing their thing.

With so much on, you’d be forgiven for taking one look at the programme, waving an impromptu white flag and running for the nearest pub in a fit of screaming indecision (maybe that’s just me?). To make life easier, here are a few suggestions that are tickling our fancy.

For an intimate evening with an outspoken lightbulb-eater, get along to Abigoliah Schaumaun's show Subtle. Amateur Transplants: Adam Kay's Bum Notes was a big hit at the Fringe from anaesthetist-turned-comedian Kay, combining comedy and musical parody with a medical bent. If you missed Bridget Christie's multi award-winning show A Bic For Her, you can see it at The Stand. Award-winner John Kearns returns with his surrealist hit Sight Gags for Perverts at Blackfriars, as does pint-sized Canadian Mae Martin with Slumber Party, which earned an impressive five stars in August. Rik Carranza, perhaps the nicest man in comedy, will be in Vespbar, debuting his new show Charming,  and a little birdy tells us that Afterbirth with Sandy Bouttell, Ally Houston, Paul McDaniel will be worth checking out. 

Though the GCIF is Europe's biggest stand-alone comedy festival, it can be a tricky bugger to navigate as many shows are one-night-onlys. My advice is to plan your itinerary ahead of the game; many shows are on at the same time, or with tight turnarounds between venues, and lots sell out quickly. Bikes/rollerskates/jet-packs are advised. 

It’s been ten years since GICF elbowed its way into the industry calendar. Looking at this year’s incredible roster of talent, it’s clear the fest has graduated to the big league, and stands proudly as a landmark for great comedy. With its name firmly etched into the landscape, we can only expect bigger and better things from now. Well done, Glasgow; here’s to the next decade of laughs.

 

Glasgow International Comedy Festival, 14 Mar-5 Apr http://www.glasgowcomedyfestival.com