When I first came to Oxford, my first thought was that I’d forgotten all my socks. Around my 6th thought was concerning where I was supposed to go for comedy. You see, where I’m from in Wales, live comedy is a big part of life. Admittedly this was partly due to the fact that I need cheering up because I’m welsh, and somewhere indoors to go, where it wasn’t constantly raining, but that’s all by the by. So when I was asked to investigate Oxford comedy for an article, I hit the streets immediately. After bandaging my hand from that terrible pun, I googled where to see shows, got some tickets and went along to a few gigs. Voila:
The New Theatre, http://www.newtheatreoxford.org.uk
This is where you’ll find your big names; your Dylan Morans and Jason Manfords and whathaveyou. I went along to see Mark Watson’s show and found that the Theatre’s a great space with a lovely atmosphere, and wonderfully overpriced confectionaries. One complaint I would have is that there’s an orchestra pit around 8 feet deep between the comedian and audience, limiting the possible interaction between the two. Mark Watson could only really involve the front two rows of the audience which was a shame. If you love participating, it might be worth attending a smaller venue.
Coming up at the New Theatre: Jason Manford, Dylan Moran, John Cleese, Ed Byrne, Milton Jones, Lenny Henry, Stephen K Amos, The Chuckle Brothers
The Regal, www.the-regal.com
The Regal is a bit out of the way up Cowley road (unless you live there-bully for you!), and is surprisingly large on the inside. Whilst you will get some reasonably big names here, there’s a very different ambience, more of a lads and lasses night out with less of a spread across the age range. Still, if you’re in the right mood it’s worth a trip. Word of warning: the compéres may be of varying quality.
Coming up at the Regal: Russell Kane, MC Ray Peacock, Henning Wehn, Pete Firman
The Glee Club, http://www.glee.co.uk/oxford
With perhaps a more friendly air is the Glee club, where you’ll find a mix of up-and-comers trying to make a name for themselves and big names trying out their new material on a small audience. A little out of the way for some people (on Hythe Bridge Street), but with great line-ups and jugs of beer available, you can’t go wrong.
Coming up at the Glee Club: Greg Davies, Terry Alderton, Tommy Tiernan, Brendan Burns, Rich Hall, Sarah Millican, Russell Kane, Issy Suttie, Micky Flanigan, Alun Cochrane, Al Pitcher, Rob Deering
The Cellar, http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=2394594879
The Cellar describes itself as ‘a bastion of Quality in a sea of Mediocrity’, and with weekly stand-up , comedy and free beer it’s tempting to agree. Every Monday they offer this at their free beer show-unfortunately you might have to wait until next term to experience this as Monday 8th week appears to have been substituted with a metal night.
Coming up at The Cellar: Zoe Lyons
The Wheatsheaf, http://www.myspace.com/wheatsheaf_music
This is the place to find improvisational comedians ‘The Oxford Imps’ every Monday night, and while the comedy may be a little hit-and-miss it is pretty good value for money. I would advise getting there early though, as seating is limited and their show is very popular, and less enjoyable if you can’t see the performers over the heads of other patrons. Other student comedy like the Oxford Revue can be found here, albeit less regularly.
Coming up at the Wheatsheaf: Josie Long, The Oxford Imps, The Oxford Revue
One-off events
You’ll need to keep your eyes peeled for these, but they do come around. An example is the UNICEF comedy event ‘Stand up for Children’, on the 30th November at the Keble O’Reilly theatre with a great line-up.
Coming to the UNICEF event: The Oxford Imps, The Oxford Revue, Rory O’Keefe, A Little Darker, Chris Turner, Alex Clissold-Jones, Tom Skelton, Kat James and Phill Brown. (http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=158551630853744&ref=mf)
So there you have my basic guide-I’m sure there are plenty that I’ve missed out, and some of the student groups may take a little effort to track down but that’s all part of the experience. Or at least that’s what I tell myself when I’m searching the internet at 3am with an essay due in the next day.
Happy ha-ha-ing.
