Comedy goes upmarket with three gigs in city bar next week
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The Market Bar’s stage is set to swap its nightly music for a bit of mirth – with three nights of comedy coming to the cultural hotspot next week.
Wednesday, April 26 sees pop-up comedy event Laugh Out Loud come to the Market – shifting from its previous home at the Tooth and Claw – and features Australian comic Andrew Forsyth, as well as local comedians Kieran Lochlore and Mike Hendry.
Hosting the evening will be organiser and promoter Steve Robertson. He explained: “Laugh Out Loud is a pop up event that is an extension of The Comedy Bothy. Unlike The Comedy Bothy, Laugh Out Loud has no regular venue so we are delighted to be coming to The Market Bar.
“This Laugh Out Loud has come together as Andrew Forsyth is visiting family in Inverness and asked if we could put together something for him to perform while he is here.”
The following evening (Thursday, April 27), Inverness comedy stalwart Donnie Shovlin will host an open mic night to give budding comics the chance to hit the stage and have a go at stand up.
He explained: “We’re calling it Upmarket Comedy – not that we’re upmarket!
“It’s a great wee place, the Market – you’ll feel the love here, definitely. It can be a lonely place up on stage if you’re trying to do new material, so it’s a good place to get started.”
The event, starting at 7.30pm, has been designed to be open to all-comers, regardless of experience – with newbies rubbing shoulders with more experienced comics looking to try out new material. “What I used to do is go down to Glasgow and Edinburgh and all that to try out new material there, but then I thought ‘Why not try it up here?’
“We’re now just trying to get a few more people in – the more the merrier!”
Donnie added: “Just be yourself, write some jokes, and just come up and try it.
“You WILL be nervous, but that’s fine – I always get nervous too! You just practice it before you go on, speak in the mirror, that’s what we do.”
Finally, on Sunday, April 30, musical comedian Mr Badaxe takes the stage with his brand of lewd and crude rock ’n roll.
The alias of Nottingham’s Chris Heath, the gig offers up raucous, sweary punk-tinged rock – all with titles unfit for publication in a family newspaper.
All three events will be free entry. For more information, search for the Market Bar on Facebook.
