Reeves and Mortimer
Glasgow, then touring
For a while, when scheduled 2015 performances were cancelled because of Bob’s triple heart bypass, it looked as if Reeves and Mortimer’s so-called Poignant Moments tour wouldn’t even get as far as the stage. But the pop-surrealist duo are back with a glut of December performances of their shamelessly nostalgic, catchphrase-heavy show marking 25 years of nonsense comedy.
29 November, Clyde Auditorium, Glasgow. 30 November-1 December, Newcastle City Hall. Then touring to 16 December
Stewart Lee
Leicester Square theatre, London
The presiding genius of cerebral British comedy returns to his home-from-home, the Leicester Square theatre, for another festive-season run. His live work in recent times has often been billed as mere prep for his Comedy Vehicle on BBC2 – but that series, unhappily, was cancelled earlier this year. The silver lining may be a renewed focus on Lee’s live work, in which case we’ll be in for a treat with his new show, Content Provider.
From 8 November-28 January (not 11 December-1 January), stewartlee.co.uk
Sofie Hagen
Soho theatre, London
For many, Christmas is a time of anxiety, rather than festivity. Anglo-Danish comic Sofie Hagen, voted Edinburgh’s best newcomer in 2015, probably falls into that category, but she also offers a remedy in the form of her touring show Shimmer Shatter. Launched at this year’s fringe, it addresses her own anxiety issues and is now being toured with a “reduced anxiety” agenda, whereby bespoke provisions are promised for anyone afflicted, as Hagen is, with acute social unease.
From 5-17 December, sofiehagen.com
David Brent and Foregone Conclusion Bournemouth, then touring
Freelove Freeway, Spaceman Came Down, Paris Nights – when David Brent sang those excruciating tracks in series one of The Office, none of us expected he’d be doing so again to a thousands-strong audience 15 years later – and on the back of a movie vehicle for the Wernham Hogg man to boot. But so it came to pass, and will again this Christmas, when Ricky Gervais’s alter ego and his band play two sizeable seaside gigs.
15 December, Bournemouth International Centre. 16 December, Brighton Centre, livenation.co.uk
Scott Gibson
Soho theatre, London
How better to celebrate Christmas than with the cheering tale of a young man’s out-of-the-blue brain haemorrhage? Sounds grim, but in Glaswegian comic Scott Gibson’s hands it’s anything but. The 32-year-old deservedly won the best newcomer gong at this year’s Edinburgh fringe for this unsentimental storytelling show, Life After Death, about his near‑fatal haemorrhage, his daft response to it and the various lurid indignities of hospital life.
From 20 December-14 January, scottgibsoncomedy.co.uk
