Josie Long | Tue 27 Feb | mac | £15
Josie Long is as renown for her politics as her comedy and her humour skillfully manages to embrace a biting optimism, even when she includes material about the offensive haranguing she has had to endure on social media. Performing here as part of the Lefty Scum tour with musical duo Jonny & the Baptists and singer songwriter Grace Petrie. Read our full preview here. macbirmingham.co.uk

Sean Lock | Tue 27 Feb | Hippodrome | £25
Our favourite curmudgeon has promised to ‘Keep It Light’ with his new show; so be prepared for Lock performing ballet and an intricate exposition on the clown inhabited land of Wackyistan, but we know Sean and his cheery cynicism is never far away. Best illustrated with the Sean Lock bucket list or fuck it list as he calls it. www.birminghamhippodrome.com

Luisa Omielan’s Dead Funny| Wed 28 Feb | Hippodrome | £25
Join Birmingham-born Luisa Omielan (What Would Beyonce Do, Thigh Gap, Politics for Bitches) and a rather natty roll call of her comedy colleagues like the magnificent Sara Pascoe, Mo Gilligan, Iain Stirling, Tom Allen, Suzi Ruffell, Ellie Taylor, Tez Ilyas, Jen Brister, Aaron Twitchen and Dan Nightingale. Proceeds support Helena’s Hospice Foundation with funds going towards hospices in the Midlands and nationwide. www.birminghamhippodrome.com

David Baddiel | Wed 28 Feb | New Alex Theatre | £29.65
One half of the early nineties trailblazing ‘rock and roll’ comedy duo, the other half being Robert Newman, that stuck a rocket up the behind of comic convention with its marriage of sublime wit, invention and challenging political discourse. Middle age has given Baddiel a wealth of new material that he painfully and hilariously dissects with poignant honesty in one man show My Family: Not the Sitcom. www.atgtickets.com

Mark Thomas | Wed 28 Feb to Sat 3 Mar | mac | £20
The left wing rabble rousing comedian has been using his humour to poke around into the affairs of the establishment and annoy them for nigh on three decades. In Showtime from the Frontline, Mark tells the story of how he tried to set up a comedy club in the Jenin refugee camp in Palestine, a stronghold for the al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigade. Appearing at the mac with two aspiring comics from the Jenin club, Fasial Abu Alhayjaa and Alaa Shehada, Thomas’ tale is acutely pertinent, funny and moving. macbirmingham.co.uk

Last few tickets:

Russell Brand, Re-Birth at the Town Hall Sat 3 March £30.50 www.thsh.co.uk
Joe Lycett at the Town Hall Mon 12 Nov, £23 www.thsh.co.uk

Scott Capurro | Fri 2 Feb | Glee | £12
Outrageous humour and a razer sharp intellect ensure Scott’s shows are less stand-up and more a rollicking adventure through our most taboo sensitivities. We wouldn’t expect anything less from a comic whose first novel Fowl Play gleaned laughs from murder and date rape. www.glee.co.uk

Katherine Ryan | Fri 2 Feb | Symphony Hall | £24
A ubiquitous presence on all the big hitting TV panel shows such as Mock the Week, HIGNFY and QI, the Canadian comic has been burying the myth that women aren’t funny since 2012. New show Glitter Room is filled with Ryan’s well observed and sometimes painfully caustic observations on life both personal and public. www.thsh.co.uk

Graham Fellows | Sun 4 Feb | mac | £13.50
The man better known as Sheffield’s finest singer songwriter and Yamaha keyboard tinkler John Shuttleworth brings his Out of Character show to the mac with an eclectic assortment of his own songs and anecdotes. Read our full preview here.

Tony Law | Wed 7 Feb | Dark Horse | £6
Bizarre doesn’t really do the surreal Canadian justice, his last show A Law Undo His-elf What Welcome was as bafflingly hilarious as it sounds. Our advice? Buckle up and just go with the flow as Tony’s imagination wanders into oft unscripted flights of comic fantasy. A real coup for Wax Elephant to get a comic of this stature at The Dark Horse. www.skiddle.com

Milton Jones | Sun 11 Feb | New Alex Theatre | £30.15
The neurotic comedian with the mad hair always appears one short step away from hospitalisation and his bizarre often surreal comedy reflects this, but there’s a sharp mind behind the idiot persona, indeed one that wants to be Prime Minister, we’d vote for him. Did you know he had written a Christian joke book? www.atgtickets.com

Lou Conran | Thu 15 Feb | mac | £10
In acclaimed show I Love Lou C, Conran fearlessly tackles taboo and centres the tragedy of losing her own baby in a performance around which orbits material loaded with poignancy and unexpected humour. The Edinburgh Fringe veteran has stated she had to relearn how to be funny, we can assure you her pointed comedy is as sharp as ever, the shift between dark and light subject matter is effortless.  macbirmingham.co.uk

Paul Chowdhry | Mon 19 Feb | Symphony Hall | £22.50
A fearless comic who has managed to polarise audiences with his bulldozing of political correctness, 2014’s PC’s World led to a scathing review in The Guardian as he blitzed through a raft of taboo’s. Chowdhry continues to sell out tours and he has undoubtedly tapped into a raw nerve in the contemporary cultural zeitgeist. New show Live innit is more of the same hilarious stock from a funny man at the top of his game. Sit back and enjoy the fireworks. www.thsh.co.uk