Some top comedians are coming to our region in January. Here's ten of the best who'll help you laugh away the January blues.
•Mark Watson
Norwich Playhouse, January 13-16, 7.30pm, £15, 01603 598598, www.norwichplayhouse.co.uk Mark Watson is a regular at Norwich Playhouse and a year almost to the day after he brought his last stand-up show Flaws he returns to serve up a preview of his brand new show. If you've seen this lanky Live At The Apollo funnyman in any of his previous sell-out Norwich runs, you'll know what to expect: jokes, observations, awkward flailing around. It's a formula that has brought him numerous awards and seen him perform at comedy festivals all over the world. Now, in between runs at the Melbourne and Edinburgh Festivals and ahead of another huge national tour, he braves the A11 once more. A chance to see the show before anyone else.
•The Noise Next Door: Noise In The Hood
Junction, Clifton Road, Cambridge, January 15, 7pm, £15, 01223 511511, www.junction.co.uk The unstoppable improv comedy juggernaut that is The Noise Next Door have turned up the volume for their third national tour. The undisputed masters of off-the-cuff comedy take audience suggestions and transform them into fantastically funny scenes and songs in the blink of an eye. A perfect blend of ludicrous characters, witty one-liners, epic stories, and explosive physicality. After a huge 2015 for the guys with their eighth consecutive sell-out run at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and appearances on BBC1, ITV and Radio 1 this show is set to be their biggest and best yet. Expect belly laughs abound from this critically acclaimed comedy quintet.
•Dave Gorman
Norwich Playhouse, January 18-20, 8pm, returns only, 01603 598598, norwichplayhouse.co.uk Adept at transforming the seemingly mundane into hours of unabashed hysteria, Dave Gorman finally makes it for this two-night run after postponing in October when his wife gave birth their new son Eric. The innovative comedy mind behind Modern Life Is Goodish Are You Dave Gorman? and Googlewhack Adventure his live show is unique blend of stand-up comedy and visual story-telling titled Dave Gorman Gets Straight To The Point*... (*The PowerPoint). The title is no fancy metaphor, he will literally be using a powerpoint. 'Of course it's boring if you use it for sales but as a comedian it's really quite fun to use,' he argues.
•KL Comedy Club
King's Lynn Corn Exchange, January 21, 8.45pm, £9.50, 01553 764864, www.kingslynncornexchange.co.uk
The first King's Lynn Comedy Club night of 2016 at the Corn Exchange promises laughter courtesy of Funmbi, who you may have caught recently performed on The John Bishop Show, as well as being a regular guest on I'm A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here! Now! This is a chance to see him before he embarks on a mini-tour during the spring, following his sold-out Edinburgh show Funmbi Omotayo: Legal Immigrant. Also on the bill will be Sean Mcoughlin and Geoff Norcut who has previously written for Sarah Millican. Up-and-coming young comedienne Suzi Ruffell has supported the likes of Alan Carr, Josh Widdicombe and Kevin Bridges. She previously made the final of the Latitude Festival's New Act of The Year competition.
•Hal Cruttenden
Norwich Playhouse, January 22, 8pm, £16 (£14 cons), 01603 598598, www.norwichplayhouse.co.uk Now a familiar face from performances on Live At The Apollo, Let's Dance For Comic Relief, The Royal Variety Performance and Mock The Week, Hal Cruttenden returns. His show, Straight Outta Cruttenden, sees him ranting about the real evils of the modern world, including oversharing on social media, the 5:2 diet, taking his wife to Saudi Arabia and how he fell out with George Osborne - Gideon as he was then - at school; personally blaming him every time he puts up the price of petrol. 'I used to listen to Straight Outta Compton [the debut studio album by American hip hop group N.W.A.] quite a lot when it first came out. I downloaded it and started listening to it again going 'yeah, it gets rid of your anger doesn't it',' says the comedian of the show's title. •Tiff Stevenson
Junction, Clifton Road, Cambridge, January 22, 8pm, £13, 01223 511511, www.junction.co.uk A finalist on ITV's Show Me the Funny, the charming stand-up comedian, actor and writer, known for her straight-talking material and instantly likeable disposition. Her latest show Made Man finds her pondering what makes a person? Ideas, labels, sexuality or even slogan T-shirts? Products are anthropomorphised and the cult of personality reigns supreme. Are we being sold our identity? You will no doubt have seen her on Mock the Week, The Apprentice: You're Fired and People Just Do Nothing, or heard her on Radio 4 Extra, 7 Day Saturday and Woman's Hour.
•Red Card Comedy Club
Carrow Road, Norwich, January 28, 8.45pm, £12, 0844 8261902, www.redcardcomedyclub.com One of the top black comedians on the UK comedy circuit, Rudi Lickwood, pictured above, will stopping off at Carrow Road to help kick-off 2016 for Red Card Comedy. He's a fast talker who shoots from the hip; he can be rude, crude, extremely personal and sometimes downright insulting but done so with friendliness and a charismatic grin that allows him to get away with it. Joining him will be genuine Geordie giant Luke Benson, who mixes hilarious stories, original one liners and inventive word-play, will the ever reliable Tim Clarke, a favourite of the UK comedy scene for the last 20 years, is compere. And offering something different will be Suffolk's award-winning Doug Segal who combines comedy with feats of mind reading and mind control.
•Paddy McGuinness
King's Lynn Corn Exchange, January 28, 7.30pm, £35-£17.50, 01553 764864, www.kingslynncornexchange.co.uk The star of ITV's Take Me Out, who first made his name as Peter Kaye's sidekick in Phoenix Nights and Paddy and Max, returns to his performing roots, with Daddy McGuiness, his first stand-up comedy show since 2011. He is a newish dad and it's true what they say, once you become a parent toilet talk really does dominate every conversation. So there are plenty of tales of dirty nappies, and worse. Duvets, chokes and poking friends (on Facebook) also feature, while he claims his main reason for going on the road is to catch up on sleep and escape the dreaded Mr Tumble. He will no doubt be sneaking in his infamous 'no lighty' line as he also takes on reality TV, spiders and even more abstract topics.
•Andy Zaltzman
Junction, Clifton Road, Cambridge, January 29, 8pm, £13, 01223 511511, www.junction.co.uk Are you exasperated by economics, piqued by politics, or wound up about the world? Then this is your chance to have the issues you care about satirised to order by one of Britain's leading political comedians, who will deliver freshly-hewn, individually-tailored comedic responses to your big issues. You can email your satirico-query (to satirisethis@satiristforhire.com), including the date of the show, plus details of the issue/person/concept/thing you would like addressed. All issues considered (within reason), whether political, social or miscellaneous, and whether global, national, local or intensely personal. Zaltzman is half of the global smash hit topical podcast The Bugle, alongside John Oliver, and star of Five Live's 7 Day Sunday/Saturday as well as numerous appearances on Radio 4.
•Gary Delaney
Norwich Playhouse, January 30, 8pm, £15, 01603 598598, www.norwichplayhouse.co.uk Mock The Week regular, who is ranked alongside Milton Jones as the finest one-liner gagsmiths, back with a brand new show, There's Something About Gary, entertaining with expertly crafted comedy. It's a chow about himself which is just as well as it is something is he likes to write jokes. An awful lot of them. Also he appears to have some jizz in his hair. There's that as well. Gary thinks a good joke should be like a drunk Glaswegian, short and punchy. His new tour show is not only great for people who like lots of jokes but also fun for people who enjoy being offended by jokes too. A double Sony Award winner and Chortle Award nominee will be supplying an endless flow of top quality jokes.
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