Jonathan Trew: Glasgow International Comedy Festival

NOW in its tenth year, Glasgow International Comedy Festival has skilfully ridden the ongoing comedy boom by nurturing local talent as well as booking off-the-telly faces that everybody knows.

This opening weekend is no different. Over the next couple of days, professional grouch Rich Hall is arguably the most famous comic playing, thanks to multiple appearances on QI.

On a more local tip, young-ish gag-slingers Scott Agnew and Chris Broomfield will hold forth tonight at Maggie May’s and The State Bar, while Dorothy Paul, playing the King’s on Sunday, happily fits into the Elder Stateswummin of Scottish comedy category. One comic who may just hit the big time is James Acaster, whose deadpan observations on his unadventurous character saw him enjoy a sparkling run at the Fringe last August. He plays Blackfriars basement tonight.

If comedy is the brash black sheep of the arts world what is poetry? Things are improving, slowly, but given its habitual lack of funding and profile, it could be argued that poetry is the neglected stepchild of the arts. But the ongoing StAnza festival in St Andrews aims to help rectify that perception. Currently in its 15th year, StAnza has readings by acclaimed Scottish poet Jackie Kay and Costa poetry winner Christopher Reid this weekend. Possibly more raucous will be the StAnza Slam taking place tonight with Tony Walsh, aka Longfella, Glastonbury’s poet in residence, at the Byre Theatre from 10:15pm this evening.

Ever since reading his first novel, The Debt to Pleasure, the adventures of ghastly snob Tarquin Winot, I have been an avid reader of John Lanchester. He appears at the Mitchell Library today as part of the Aye Write! Festival as does the former Chancellor, Alistair Darling. Lanchester will be reading from Capital, his imminent novel about the ongoing financial cluster flop. Darling will be discussing Back from the Brink: 1000 Days at Number Eleven. Dropping in on both would make for an interesting compare and contrast exercise.

www.glasgowcomedyfestival.com; www.stanzapoetry.org; www.ayewrite.com