Rhys James "Chop Logic", The Glee Club, Glasgow. Thursday 29th October, 2026

I don't know how closely they follow this rule, but the Glee Club website stated that the last entry to this show was 7.15 pm. We left at 6.10 pm, thinking that was plenty of time to drive from Paisley to Glasgow. The M8 had other ideas. From Braehead onwards, I barely got out of second gear all the way to the Kingston Bridge. Even in the city centre, cars and buses had slowed to a crawl. With no parking spaces near the venue, we ended up using the Concert Hall car park and paying £5 for the pleasure. That parking choice meant we did make it to the venue for 7.05 pm. Thank goodness for allocated seating; otherwise, we would have been way at the back. 

Halloween bats decorate the sign

We made our way down to table C11. The view was good, close enough to meet the gaze of the comedian, but far enough away to feel protected. Neither comedian engaged with anyone in the audience, which helped. Bar service via a QR code meant the staff brought our drinks to the table. So much easier than going to the bar.

The Glee Club website listed Liam Whitnail as support, so it was a pleasant surprise to hear Marc Jennings being introduced. His set was well written and engaging, with some big laughs. The Clydebank comedian was far better than when I'd seen him previously. He seemed more relaxed, confident with his material. 

After the interval, Rhys delivered his set, gags flowing at a terrific pace. If one failed to land as he anticipated, he'd play with the audience, berating our sensibilities, mocking our older generation's faux poshness, not what he expected from Glasgow. It was nice to see him step away from the script, confident to riff. The set was full of clever ideas, like his plan to outdo money-saving expert Martin Lewis at his own game, so Martin would have to recommend him. I'd heard him perform a few of the gags before, but when there were so many, that didn't matter. He also seemed less judgmental and angry with us than when he played the O2 Academy, finding the middle ground between berating us and needing us to laugh. 

It's incredible how many callbacks he packed into the show, ending as he said he would: on a cliffhanger - blackout. 

Rhys is finding his stride now. He's a clever writer and assured performer, producing a huge amount of funny material. He deserves a bigger platform. I doubt he'll be playing small venues like the Glee Club much longer.

Ticket Price: 2 x £20.00 & Booking Fee £5.50 =  £45.50 from The Glee Club 

Press Launch info:

Rhys James Announces Brand-New Tour Chop Logic

Critically acclaimed comedian, writer and series regular on TLC’s hit recent reboot of Mock the Week, Rhys James, has announced his brand-new UK stand-up tour Chop Logic – a fast, forensic show of big ideas and gag-dense overthinking from one of the nation’s sharpest stand-ups.

With the show set to debut at this year’s Edinburgh Festival Fringe (announcement to follow), the ‘master of the lightning-paced, precision-delivered set’ (The Guardian) will then tour the show across the UK with a 40-date run from 10th September 2026 – 15th May 2027, including a big London stop-off at Soho Theatre Walthamstow (13th March 2027).

Rhys has made a discovery that could fix everything. It’s been staring him in the face the whole time, in a mirror held behind his head. If he can ignore his own problems for long enough, he might just be able to solve yours. 

A Play, A Pie and A Pint: Badhbh-Shith and the Storytellers, Oran Mor, Glasgow. Wednesday 28th October, 2026

You never know who might be lurking in a bothy…

Sorcha and Evander have a mountain to conquer, but when a Hebridean storm descends, they are forced to take shelter in a lonely bothy. They decide to pass the time telling grim stories from Scottish folklore.

But bothies are unusual places. You never, never know who else might be there…as the pair soon find out.

This year’s Halloween special, Badhbh-Shìth and the Storytellers, is a new folk horror by Kenny Boyle (Righ Iasgair: The Fisher King) that tells some of the most enduring stories from Scotland’s rich folklore, whilst weaving one of its own.

We arrived about ten minutes before the doors opened, and waited at the bar. There wasn't much of a queue. After we were allowed downstairs, we ordered our drinks, picked up our pies, and took our seats. We chose aisle seats in the fourth row because the ladies in front were small. The show was busy but not sold out, so we had plenty of room.

After the show started, I struggled to keep my eyes open thanks to too many late nights. The intermittent Gaelic dialogue threw me at first, making me question my hearing. The play seemed to be about stories and felt dry at first as we got to know the two characters. Evander, played by Kenny Boyle (also the play's author) had a bleeding cut on his forehead, which hadn't been explained (or I may have dozed through the explanation).

I forced myself to stay awake during the story about the badhbh-shith, since that's in the title. And I'm glad I did, as the play suddenly picked up speed. The plot twist was well managed, and the play ended with a wonderful cliffhanger. 

These short plays are a wonder and priced so keenly. The audience was quite mixed, from students to pensioners. I spotted one trick I hadn't noticed last time. Frequent attendees put their coats on their seats, then go get their drinks and food. But instead of returning to their seats, they use the tabled booths at the side to dine in comfort. Clever clogs. 

 Ticket Price: £17.50  x 2 & booking fee £4.36 = £39.36 from Universe 

Kevin Bridges "Here If You Need Me" Tour 2026, OVO Hydro, Glasgow. Tuesday 27th October, 2026

After seeing Kev do an open spot at The Stand earlier in the year, I was keen to see which material made the cut. 

The view from the front of section 203

Two support acts graced the stage in the first half of the show. Christopher MacArthur-Boyd performed a mostly familiar set, mentioning Scotrail and his Australian girlfriend, amongst other things. Christopher is 5'3" and was somewhat dwarfed by the stage and cavernous room.  Physically, he reminded me of Ronnie Corbett in the way he kept adjusting his dark-rimmed spectacles. 

Chris Kent, an Irish comic from Cork, came on second. The only thing I recall about him was that he said he was from Cork.

During the interval, my wife remarked that she had two empty seats beside her. Then, just before the lights went down, a couple arrived. The man sat beside my wife and reeked of fresh cigarette smoke and clutched a pint. Throughout the show, he kept coughing wheezily, dredging his chest for catarrh as if to recycle much-craved nicotine back into his mouth for oral absorption. The pair left before the end. Maybe they wanted to beat the queues, maybe he needed a fag. 

Kevin was on top form. Despite the huge room, he kept the atmosphere intimate, engaging with audience members to prompt his prepared material. His skill is in both the writing and the delivery. He had honed the bits he tested at The Stand, cutting away the chaff and leaving only the funny. I noted he often used football references, such as comparing our global political woes with Russia, Iran, and China to the group stages, where progression would lead to a knockout game against North Korea. He also used Ronaldo and Messi at the Kelpies as an example of AI internet scams.

I couldn't make out his facial expressions from the balcony, so I spent most of the show watching him on the screens. The sound in the room was terrific, volume perfect to avoid the echoeyness that affected the support acts.

I bought a programme (£10), but the content was basic: just an interview with him and tour production credits. The merch unit also had baseball caps and other stuff I wasn't interested in.

Front

Back

Afterwards, as we headed out of the venue, I watched the masses traipse across the footway bridge to the multi-storey car park, while others piled into the Moxy Hotel. I realised people would be better off sleeping overnight in their cars in the car park. At between £12-24/night, it might not be luxurious, but it is cost-effective. Elaborating, I considered whether people would choose their vehicle based on its comfort rating, asking the car salesman, "Do the seats fold out into a bed? Does this one come with blackout curtains? Is there any way to add a commode?" With EVs, you don't have to worry about exhaust fumes killing you while you sleep. You would also avoid the hour-long queue to get out of the car park after the show. So the council shouldn't approve building yet another hotel near the SEC; they should ramp up the car parks and rake in the cash. 

As Madness wouldn't sing: "I like sleeping in my chariot; it's not quite a Marriott." 

... I'll be waiting in the car.

Ticket Price: 2 x £45 + Service Fee: £6.10 x 2 + Venue Facility Fee: £2.50 x 2 + Handling Fee £2.50 = Total £109.70 (via Ticketmaster OVO Presale).

Brandon Flowers, O2 Academy, Glasgow. Friday 23rd October, 2026.

This was a hot ticket. The album presale early access sold out quickly, and the Gigs in Scotland Presale the next day did too. I couldn't get two seats together, so I plumped for two single seats in the rear balcony.  

A week or so before the gig, Ticketmaster notified me that the doors-open time had changed from 7 pm to 7.30 pm and said there would be no support act. Since we had seats, we headed over around 7 to find nearby parking, but waited in the car until we figured the queue would have cleared.

After a brief pat down, we made our way upstairs to our seats. On the balcony, a security supervisor asked if we knew where our seats were. We explained we were in different rows, and he asked if we would like to sit together. We nodded, and he led us to two spare aisle seats in row D. Result! Great view, until the two youngsters in front arrived. Still, I had no one directly behind me, so I could make use of the space between me and the aisle.  

The crowd downstairs was already heaving by the time we sat down. I was so glad we had seats, as Brandon wasn't due on stage till 9 pm. Then, from 9 pm onward, every time a pre-show track ended, the crowd would cheer, only to be disappointed when another track started. He came on at 9.07 pm and played till close to 11 pm.

The stage didn't seem big enough to accommodate Brandon and his bandmates, all ten of them. Having seen him own the huge stage at the Hydro, he seemed diminished at first by the smaller stage, trapped in the available space. But not for long. Soon, he was climbing on top of the monitors and busting his moves, encouraging the crowd to sing along. A masterful performance.

Some of his material was unfamiliar to me, and to some in the crowd, as the trips to the bar and toilet showed. The downside of an aisle seat, having to rise to allow the drinkers out. The girl in front, with long brown hair, kept leaning forward and flicking it over her shoulder. Her head often obscured my view of the right side of the stage, but I tried not to let it bother me. Then, as I started videoing one song, she stood up, her bulk turning my screen black. Fortunately, the stage lighting was predominantly blue, so my camera wouldn't have made a good recording anyway. I made sure I stood up to record any future videos. 

When You Were Young 

Read My Mind

Although I filmed Read My Mind, I couldn't capture All These Things That I've Done intact because the crowd went wild. Everyone was on their feet, arms waving, singing at the top of their voices. It made me yearn for The Killers. While I like Brandon and his new album, I find his other solo stuff less engaging. 

Nevertheless, it was still a special gig, one of my wife's favourites of the year.    

Setlist

The Red Ground

Does It Ever Cross Your Mind?

Crossfire

Tiger’s Blood

Plans

Paradise

Still Want You

Angel

Magdalena

Miss America

In the Car Outside (The Killers song)

Hard Enough

When You Were Young (The Killers song)

Lonely Town

Can't Deny My Love

Only the Young

Encore

In Another Life (The Killers song)

Read My Mind (The Killers song)

All These Things That I've Done (The Killers song)

Between Me and You

An American Dream

Ticket Price: 2 x Album Pre-Order Presale Ticket £55.00 each
Per Item Fees £22.70
£9.40 (Service Charge Album Pre-Order Presale Ticket) x2
£1.95 (Facility Charge Album Pre-Order Presale Ticket) x2
Total (incl. fee) £132.70 from Ticketmaster (01/07/2026)

Preshow Music

Willie Nelson - Mammas Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be  Cowboys

Dwight Yoakam - Guitars, Cadillacs

Merle Haggard & Willie Nelson - Pancho And Lefty

Hank Williams, Jr. - Family Tradition

The Flying Burrito Brothers - Sin City

Kris Kristofferson - Why Me

Merle Haggard - Okie From Muskogee

The Byrds - You Ain't Goin' Nowhere

Texas Tornados - (Hey Baby) Que Paso

Randy Travis - Diggin' Up Bones

Gary Stewart - She's Actin' Single (I'm Drinking Doubles)

David Allan Coe - You Never Even Called Me By My Name

Guy Clark - L.A. Freeway

John Anderson - Straight Tequila Night (faded out as the band arrived on stage) 

Breaking The News BBC Recording, Drygate, Glasgow. Thursday 22nd October, 2026

 

Host: Des Clarke
Panellists: Susie McCabe, Chris Thorburn, Ifrah Qureshi and Sam Lake.

Round One: Broken News Round.
John Swinney accused of transforming into a dictator by the "Chuckle Brothers" from Greenock
UK Government approved drilling at the Jackdaw Gas Field

Round Two: Who is in the News?

1. Amanda Blands MSP, who quit Reform to sit as an Independent

2. Matthew McConaughey, tipped as a potential candidate for US President

Round Three: Friends of the Show

Pat Nevin - In England, playing loud music on public transport could lead to a £100 fine. 

Anne McAlpine -  Relationships in video games could be regarded as cheating. 

Final Quickfire Round - Q: There are 281 what in Orkney? People over the age of 90

Klaxon - Angela Rayner: "Things are challenging."

Chat that never made the broadcast:

Susie raging at male comics, particularly Vittorio Angelone, whose rape joke had recently resurfaced. She commented about women's safety and the reduction in funding for Rape Crisis services.

There were also many jokes at the expense of the BBC, which announced they were shutting down the BBC Scotland TV channel, the channel whuch broadcasts the show.

John Kearns "Tilting at Windmills", The Stand, Glasgow. Wednesday 21st October, 2026

 

We're heading to The Stand tonight to see John Kearns. It's dark, it's wet, and the motorway is congested. I decide to follow my sat nav's advice and take the tunnel. It's all going so well until it tells me to turn left onto Kelvin Way. I seem to recall that road is blocked to motor traffic, but I turn anyway. Doh! Motherf*****!. This road provides access only to the Kelvingrove Museum and Art Gallery car park. Back round we go onto Argyle Street; the time to destination recalibrating higher. We head towards Charing Cross. Meet more congestion. Why didn't we leave earlier? I think to myself. We crawl along Woodlands Road. Turn at the roundabout. Drive past the previous Stand location, then turn right at the next roundabout. Wait at the traffic lights. "Oh, look. Webster's building is all lit up", she says. We turn right and find a parking spot on Great Western Road. It's still drizzly. I flip up my jacket hood, and we hurry to the venue. I snap a picture of the chalkboard as we go in. Shouldn't it say "last 'few' tickets"? 

The room doors are already open, so no queue. It's a sell-out, so the seats are laid out stupidly close together. We sit at the back, on the aisle at the front of the raised level. My wife can't decide if she wants a drink. I wait, trying not to huff, while she thinks. I inform her I'm getting one. Then she can't decide what she wants. "An Appletiser, no. (long pause). Get me a pink gin and lemonade". I don't wait for her to say, "final answer". I join the queue. When I'm next, I see the barmaid lift her arm. I step around the person being served and see she's raised her arm to pull a pint. I sheepishly return to my previous position and wait again. I buy the drinks, add a tip, and return to our seats. My phone buzzes. It's almost out of charge, so I plug in my power bank and read my Kindle. Finally, I relax. Then the music gets louder, much more than usual, perhaps, maybe so John can hear it backstage? What the hell is going on? 

No mention of a support act, so it's a surprise when John announces, "Welcome to the stage, Pat Cahill," then walks on with another chap in tow. They banter awkwardly, and John seems unwilling to leave the stage, almost setting the other chap up to fail. Eventually, he gives a second introduction and leaves him to it.

Pat appears nervous. His opening lines don't land as well as he expected, so it takes him a while to find his stride. Only when he launches into a musical number about turning piss into cash does he find his feet. It's very Pythonesque. He finishes on a character, Mr Honk, who takes us to a surreal place: hugging a member of the audience for as long as comedically possible while making honking noises. 

Pat Cahill (right) (image from Instagram, not the gig)

After the interval, John tells us Pat has left the building, unhappy with our reaction. Whether that's true, we'll never know, as John isn't above teasing us at Pat's expense. John then settles into the show. 

John removes his glasses, tonsure wig, and fake teeth, sets them on a stool, and remarks that this story begins in a sauna. He sits demurely, side on, and paints us a picture of the situation. A young couple sit opposite him, talking to each other; he eavesdrops, and it ends with the girl blurting out, "Weren't you on Taskmaster?"  

John puts on the wig and teeth again, then his glasses. He's back in character. "It's been four years since I did Taskmaster. That money is loooong gone," he bemoans. He then launches into a shaggy-dog story about a tour he took based on T.S. Eliot's poem "The Wasteland", though he hasn't read it. Intermittently, Sir Alec Guinness narrates sections of the poem as the journey continues after the tour, as John makes his way back home to his parents' house after splitting from his partner of twelve years, with whom he has a five-year-old son. Along the way, much irritates him, and he vents, exasperated, in mock fury at the idiocy of the people he encounters, the "tilting at windmills" of the show's title. 

What makes this funny is both the vigour of the performance and his captivating descriptions and comic phraseology. There's pathos too. When he mocks other comedians, like Sue Perkins, who appeared on "Last One Laughing" (he raises an eyebrow, "I heard about that show at the same time as you"), he knows he's punching up because of his low status in the comedy world. Names are interchangeable, he laments. No one is beneath him. 

There is light at the end, though. A Goon Show reference about struggling to carry a piano home to England from France becomes a callback as we hear the clip from the show, with Spike Milligan saying, in mock surprise, "It is a lot lighter when you let go." This was supposed to be where the room blacked out, signalling the end of the show, but the techie missed the cue by a few beats, leaving John standing on stage looking at us. John had just started telling us the show was over when the lights eventually cut out. The fumble almost seemed fitting.  

It's difficult to describe why this show is funny. It's more a comic monologue than a joke-filled laugh fest. It's more personal than his previous shows, shining a light on his situation and blurring the line between character and comedian. The wig and teeth keep the distance, even though he's opening up his soul and making us laugh. 

Afterwards, I asked my wife if she found him funny. She did, but neither of us could explain why. I think he'd be happy with that. 

Ticket Price: 2 x £25 plus £1 booking fee from the Stand.

The Umbilical Brothers "The Distraction", The Old Fruitmarket, Glasgow. Sunday 18th October, 2026.

The last time I saw The Umbilical Brothers perform live was on Wednesday 8th February 1995, when they played the Paisley Arts Centre. 

Back then, their gimmick was to mime and provide sound effects to each other's actions. Now, they have returned with their new show, The Distraction, using the latest technology to add to the spectacle. As they put it, we don't have to use our imagination anymore.   

Picture taken early on - the seats did get filled

The preshow engaged the audience with light, silly on-screen jokes. Things like: "Funerals, not as fun as the word suggests" (I may be paraphrasing). It's a tried-and-true technique that elicits laughs and gets the audience attuned to the big screen.

David (the one with the hair) opened the show by talking to his reflection in the dressing room mirror, using ventriloquism to give his reflection a voice. Only there is no mirror. It's a projection using a green screen. David has a tablet set up so he can see and interact with the image. When the bit devolves into friskiness, Shane's reflection interrupts them, looking for Shane, who hasn't appeared yet.  

We then follow the search for Shane as Shane's reflection dashes over the audience and out of the theatre into the street where he finds him and chases him back to us. What is actually happening is Shane mimes dashing about in front of the camera, while David runs about with a portable camera, with Shane's image superimposed on the view. Computer jiggery-pokery is engaged to show the second Shane in front of the reflection.  

We move on to, in no particular order, audience's heads exploding; an improvised section where the pair superimpose their mouths over the relevant head section of an audience member who is still seated (so no one is safe - the guy behind me in Row F was picked) and improvise funny dialogue based on their expression, much as Nina Conti does with her masks; Baby Sports, where we see dolls participating in various sports, such as being used as bowling balls in 10-pin bowling. 

It's wild. It's wacky. It's hilarious, and ever so clever. To make everything work, a tech brother on stage ensures the backgrounds map and the screen effects trigger at the appropriate time and place. Occasionally, he steps in to help with the physical effects, waving his legs in the air when Shane is supposed to be floating inside a space station. 

After the show, they do a quick Q&A before returning to an old-school sketch, Man in the Bathroom, with David acting the scene and Shane providing all the sound effects. They close on a deleted scene: baby synchronised swimming, with a sick but funny payoff when one of the five babies drowns.

The humour reminded me of a cross between Looney Tunes and Monty Python. One cheesy line that made me smile was when mission control asked the redneck inside the space station who he was, and he replied, "My name is Whitney, Houston." Silly but funny.

They had merch, but I had no interest in any of it, especially a tote bag with a baby doll head on the front, even if, as they demonstrated, you could wear it over your head as a Halloween mask. 

The outro music was Vitriol by Bluejuice, perfectly encapsulating the show's manic energy.  The show didn't sell out, but local competition was strong, with the Gilded Balloon hosting a mixed bill at the Tron and Jon Richardson promoting his memoir at the Stand. Let's hope that doesn't put them off returning. I can't wait another thirty years to see what they do next.

(I realise this review hasn't done justice to the show's craft and invention; trust me, it's clever, funny, and well-deserving of its awards).

Ticket Price:  £30.00 x 2 & Online Transaction Fee £1.50 & Booking Fee £7.20 & CH & OFM Restoration Fund £3.00 = Total £71.70 from Glasgow Life

Blurb

Live Nation presents:

The Umbilical Brothers: The Distraction

Winner - Best Comedy at the Adelaide Fringe Festival

Do you love staring at screens? Are you staring at a screen right now? You should get out more. Specifically, to a show that has an enormous screen smack-bang in the middle of it. 

The Umbilicals take the energy of live performance and the spectacle of cinema and smashes them together into a new show performed simultaneously on stage and on the big screen. It’s like nothing you’ve ever seen, and nothing they’ve ever done, and it will blow your mind way more literally than you are expecting. The Distraction: enabling your screen addiction. 

The Umbilical Brothers are an international comedy phenomenon. Their unique mix of mind-bending comedy and back-breaking physicality has taken the world’s favourite Australian comedy duo to 40 countries – from stadiums supporting Robin Williams to stadiums supporting N*Sync. 

Named as two of Entertainment Weekly’s 100 Most Creative People in Entertainment, they have appeared on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, after James Brown at Woodstock ’99, and before Queen Elizabeth II. Their global gigs have included a year-long off-Broadway run where they received raves from The New York Times and a New York Drama Desk nomination. Awards include a Helpmann for Comedy Performance of the year, The Edinburgh Critics’ Choice Award and a couple of BAFTA’s. Younger fans and stoners know them from The Upside Down Show, which they created with Sesame Workshop and won them an Emmy and a Logie. 

They haven’t just broken down the rules of theatre; they’ve invented a new theatrical multiverse. Unbelievable human performances meets special-effects wizardry. It feels so much like magic, you’ll want to burn them at the stake.