We Love Immigration, London
The idea that stand-up comics are (as a rule) more liberal than the country at large is unlikely to be undermined by this latest benefit night, an upbeat celebration of all the great things that immigrants have brought to British culture. The bill is entirely comprised of acts who wouldn’t be performing on our comedy circuit if they or their recent ancestors hadn’t come to the UK as immigrants. The diverse origins of the bill reflects the richness of British comedy: there are performers whose roots are from Canada (Mae Martin), Sri Lanka (Romesh Ranganathan), India (Nish Kumar), Pakistan (Shazia Mirza), and Ireland, in the shape of organiser Gráinne Maguire. A rising young star in stand-up herself, Maguire came up with the gig as a means of providing an alternative slant on immigration, far removed from the unthinking demonisation practiced by the gutter press and gutter politicians. The profits will go to the Migrants’ Rights Network, and here’s a fun wrinkle: anyone who turns up with a Ukip membership card will be allowed in for free.
Bloomsbury Theatre, WC1, Mon
WitTank: Old School Secrets, On tour
Given the sheer number of talented all-male sketch groups out there, anyone who wants to make a real splash these days has to come up with some kind of unique hook. Ex-Durham University trio WitTank may just have found one: their last couple of shows have revolved entirely around the appalling goings-on at a private boarding school. It’s a world that’s familiar from classic comic literature, but the WitTank boys fill their enterprise with far more brutal violence, overblown stupidity and delightful vulgarity than you’ll find in Molesworth or Billy Bunter. The whole thing is given added piquancy in these days of coalition rule thanks to the sneaking suspicion that the boys educated in a place like this will one day go on to run the country. Watch out for the impressively narcissistic sadist of a headmaster, played to perfection by the highly rated Naz Osmanoglu.
The QI Elves - No Such Thing As A Fish Podcast, London
It’s become clear that the Stephen Fry-fronted QI is more than a panel show – it’s an industry. In order to manufacture the mountain of shows, books, games and other products it churns out, QI employs a group of what it calls “elves”, extremely bright young things who are tasked with ferreting out the unusual and arresting facts that are the franchise’s bread and butter. Rather like Dudley Moore in Santa Claus: The Movie, these elves are now taking advantage of the big man’s back being turned in order to do something of their own. No Such Thing As A Fish is a live podcast recording hosted by four elves: Dan Schreiber (also a stand-up), Andrew Hunter Murray (a Private Eye writer and mainstay of improv troupe Austentatious), James Harkin, and Anna Ptaszynski. Every week, each one brings an extraordinary fact to the table and the group use it as the jumping-off point for a conversation that’s both intellectually stimulating and often very funny.
Soho Theatre, W1, Mon
