The Must-Sees of 2016: Comedy from Sara Pascoe to Billy Connolly

The critics’ guide to the hottest tickets of the year ahead

Isy Suttie comedian (Steve Ullathorne)

COMEDY

Billy Connolly

Frail at 72, but no less funny, the Big Yin brings his High Horse show to London for an 11-night residency. Smoking while driving, prostate cancer and his diagnosis with Parkinson’s disease are among the topics he manages to make memorably hilarious.

7 January to 6 February, Hammersmith Apollo, London

Billy Connolly attends Weinstein Company's screening of "Carol" (Getty Images)

Isy Suttie

Also known, and loved, as Dobby from Peep Show, Suttie’s tour The Actual Book Tour will feature songs, stand-ups and readings from her new memoir The Actual One, “about the moment in your late 20s when you suddenly realise that all your mates are growing up without you”.

17 January, Norden Farm Centre For The Arts, Maidenhead, then touring to 19 February

Reeves and Mortimer

Postponed from last autumn following Bob Mortimer’s triple heart bypass, the Nineties duo take their surreal brand of anarchy on the road to celebrate 25 years of daftness. They wouldn’t let it lie.

30 January, First Direct Arena, Leeds, then touring to 16 February

Frankie Boyle

His satirical rants go from strength to strength, now Boyle takes them on tour in Hurt Like You’ve Never Been Loved, billed as a “harrowing on-stage breakdown”.

2 February, Portsmouth Guildhall, then touring to 31 March

Frankie Boyle performs at the Royal Albert Hall, London, in aid of the Teenage Cancer Trust. (PA)

Romesh Ranganathan

Best known as Jack Dee’s sidekick on The Apprentice: You’re Fired!, his television career rocketed last year. Now the deadpan stand-up is back on the live circuit; expect sharp routines, laced with misanthropy.

6 February, Court Theatre, Tring, then touring to 4 June

Rob Delaney

Fans of Catastrophe will find much to relish in Meat, an hour of earthy tales about sex, marriage and fatherhood from the bearish American stand-up.

8 March, Lowry, Salford, then touring to 1 April

Julian Clary

The self-styled “national trinket” sets out on a tour celebrating his 30 years in the comedy business. It’s called The Joy of Mincing and camp fun, filth and outrageousness are almost certainly on the cards.

25 March, King’s Theatre, Glasgow, then touring to 27 May

Sara Pascoe

Sara Pascoe’s new show Human is an exploration of empathy and will feature true stories about Tony Blair and Oedipus Rex and some not true ones about Jason Donovan and God, apparently. The stand- up, actress and writer has a unique way of making serious topics sing – one of the best around.

6 May, West End Centre, Aldershot, then touring to 30 June