Review: Group Therapy, Gorilla, Manchester
A self-proclaimed comedy night ‘run by comedy fans, for comedy fans’, Group Therapy is exactly that.
It’s a brilliant thing to have a comedy club like this, dedicated to showcasing acts that you won’t find at Manchester’s larger venues. In fact, without alternative comedy nights like this and sister club XS Malarkey, you probably wouldn’t find the majority of the acts Group Therapy hosts in the North West at all.
Run by Ros and Michael at Gorilla bar and club (underneath the railway arches on Oxford Road), Group Therapy has a fabulously inclusive atmosphere and a totally devoted attitude towards brilliant acts from the alternative comedy circuit.
Decidedly ruling out stag and hen parties, even on a Saturday the audience is almost always solidly comedy-literate, so everyone gets the best out of the night – audience and performers.
It’s a massive shame there are so few comedy nights like this in Manchester, but the ones that do exist – Group Therapy for one – are fantastic, and should be supported (though that makes it sound as though going along is some sort of charitable deed; certainly and evidently not the case when you’re wetting yourself with laughter).
The club is only at the start of its third year, but from the start has been playing host to fantastic established names in comedy like Sara Pascoe, Nish Kumar, Joe Lycett and Ivo Graham.
Best of all, the club also plays host to fantastic lesser known acts like Jess Fostekew and Michael J Dolan, as well as to comics and comedy acts that you generally wouldn’t catch a glimpse of outside of London – Ben Target, David Trent, Pat Cahill, etc.
November’s line-up featured Andrew O’Neill as MC (a job he does brilliantly) as well as the glorious sketch group Sheeps. And when were they last in Manchester? The joys of Group Therapy.
See them if you can, but more importantly visit the club and see something super that you might not normally. Like they say, this is run by comedy fans: they know who they’re booking.
Date of live review: Saturday 29 November @ Gorilla, Manchester
Group Therapy is taking a break until 7 February, when their headline act will be Brendan Burns. And after that you’ll find fantastic line-ups on the first Saturday of every month. More information is on their website.
