What to do this weekend

10 April 2012
GIGS OF THE WEEKEND
Beth Jeans Houghton

Faithless
The stadium dance veterans are past their best but still an impressive live draw. As well as highlights from their solid new album The Dance, they'll no doubt offer arms-in-the-air classics God is a DJ and Insomnia here.
Tonight, O2 Academy Brixton, SW9 (0844 477 2000, o2academybrixton.co.uk)

Metric
Fresh from winning two prestigious Juno Awards at home in Canada, the synth rock quartet finally set out to prove to London audiences why they ought to be as big here as they are everywhere else.
Sunday, Koko, NW1 (0870 432 5527, koko.uk.com); Monday, O2 Shepherd's Bush Empire, W12 (0844 477 2000, o2shepherdsbushempire.co.uk)
David Smyth

WEEKEND COMEDY


Eccentric: Beth Jeans Houghton hosts an evening with friends

Idiots of Ants
Sketch comedy is often a hit-and-miss affair but the current show by Idiots of Ants boasts many more hits than misses and thoroughly deserved its Edinburgh Comedy Award nomination last summer. This youthful quartet might wear their influences on their sleeves but beyond postmodern Monty Python references there are original inventive gags too.
Until tomorrow, Soho Theatre, W1
(020 7478 0100, sohotheatre.com)

John Bishop
Stand-up fans should sell their mums to bag a ticket for Bishop at the relatively snug Udderbelly. When the fast-rising Liverpudlian returns in December he will be at the cavernous Wembley Arena. Expect a torrent of tales about middle-aged angst, parenthood and being mistaken for Bez from Happy Mondays.
Tomorrow, Udderbelly, SE1 (0844 847 9910, udderbelly.co.uk)

Sunday Night Comedy
The Lyric's Sunday stand-up nights have established themselves as some of the best comedy soirees in the capital. Hosted by hardest-working-man-in-Hammersmith Richard Herring, the
bills never fail to deliver. This weekend Herring's old sidekick Stewart Lee headlines and support acts grouchy Rich Hall and Cheryl Cole impersonator Rufus Hound are worth the ticket price too.
Sunday, Lyric, W6 (0871 221 1729, lyric.co.uk)
Bruce Dessau

BOOK NOW

The Prisoner of Second Avenue
Jeff Goldblum and his amusing legs made a strong impression on the London stage when he appeared opposite his old Hollywood chum Kevin Spacey in Speed-the-Plow at the Old Vic. Goldblum says that was "the best time I've ever had", so it's no surprise to hear he's accepted Spacey's offer to appear in another Old Vic production, this time Neil Simon's 1975 comedy about a redundant New Yorker coping with his own monstrous self-pity. It'll be directed by Terry Johnson in the West End.
Vaudeville, WC2, June 30-September 11. (0844 412 4663, nimaxtheatres.com)

London Jazz Festival
Tickets to the most sought-after concerts of the London Jazz Festival go on sale today, including Sonny Rollins's 80th birthday concert at the Barbican (Nov 20), Paolo Conte at the Albert Hall (Nov 16) and double-bassist Esperanza Spalding at the Southbank Centre (Nov 13).
Nov 12-20 (londonjazzfestival.org.uk)

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