Roger Jenking on the new October comedy season

THE experienced comedy observer might well be able to guess the season by the number of comedy dates in the county. And the stand-up gods have declared it to be officially autumn!

This applies to both the bigger and smaller venues but especially to Oxford’s Glee Club, which has upped its game by providing a bill of comics every Friday as well as Saturday in October, on top of its usual menu. Concentrating on ‘emerging talent’, try October 25 and 26 when Tom Wrigglesworth is the host. His stories resemble musical crescendos, gradually building up to a peak of genuine hilarity.

Or give Amateur Transplants by former medic Adam Kay a go on Thursday, October 24. Adam has since sold out Edinburgh every year since 2006 and his YouTube videos have in excess of 20 million total views. The hope is that it wasn’t the same person clicking refresh 20 million times.

There are some big names coming to Oxford’s theatres as well. Alexei Sayle hits the Playhouse on Saturday night (see front page and right), returning to stand up after a 16 year gap, with a critically acclaimed new show.

Sean Hughes will be appearing at Didcot’s Cornerstone on October 18 (see full interview next week) with his new show Life Becomes Noises and over at The North Wall, Edinburgh’s 2012 Best Newcomer Daniel Simonsen is over from Norway tonight.

The admirable Francesca Martinez hits the equally admirable Pegasus Theatre on October 12 (see full feature right) to question our obsession with ‘normality in What the **** is Normal?!. She is joined by fellow comic Jen Brister who kicks off the evening with a 30-minute show Now and Then.

Or how about James Acaster and his Lawnmower show, which he is bringing to the Chipping Norton Theatre on October 18. The show was nominated for the Best Comedy Show award at the Foster’s Edinburgh Comedy Awards. He also appeared on BBC Two’s, Never Mind the Buzzcocks recently.

Over at The Playhouse there’s a Comedy Club 4 Kids on October 25, featuring small round funny man Tiernan Douieb, CBBC favourites Little Howard and Big Howard among others, for children And finally, fresh and utterly original comedian Luisa Omielan arrives at Oxford’s Old Fire Station on November 1, following her four hugely popular sell-out runs at the Soho Theatre with What Would Beyonce Do?!

For all the single ladies, who fall crazy in love, this hugely successful intense hour is for you. It’s hot, funny and fierce, overflowing with playfulness and infectious enthusiasm, with Luisa bursting into song and dance on a regular basis.