Bill Bailey | Sat 2 Jun | Arena | £31.84
The genial and unflappable comedian reflects on the last twenty globetrotting years making nature documentaries in his new show Larks in Transit. Sometimes surreal, always sharp, Bailey is perfect company, who else could swing so effortlessly between subjects as diverse as Brexit and The 991AD Battle of Maldon? www.arenabham.co.uk

Jarred Christmas & Viv Groskop | Thu 7 Jun | mac | £10
Exposing shows performed at the Edinburgh Fringe as part of the mac’s Edinbrum season. Jarred Christmas is a familiar face on TV panel shows, the likeable Kiwi with the killer sideburns is a bundle of crackerjack energy live, rarely staying on script he is at his most hilariously efficient when in full rant mode. Of course his greatest achievement, and one of which we are sure he is most proud in a career ripe with highlights, is being in the Doner Kebab Pot Noodle TV advert. Viv Groskop is a prolific writer and former finalist of Funny Women; in Vivalicious, Groskop argues that we should just accept we’re all a bit rubbish. macbirmingham.co.uk

Doug Stanhope | Tue 12 Jun | O2 Academy 2 | £39.90
Comedy doesn’t come much more abrasive than the confrontational American Doug Stanhope, whose laser guided cynicism has been unsettling audiences since 1990. Fearlessly provocative with little regard for those of a sensitive disposition, this is a man who was practically hounded out of Ireland for making the joke that priests turn to paedophelia because Irish woman are so ugly and once took ecstasy from a member of the audience in Edinburgh. Stanhope’s raging monologues on  Charlie Brooker’s Screen and News Wipe’s were startlingly hilarious. Don’t get too comfortable because Doug will rip the floor out from under you. academymusicgroup.com

Stuart Goldsmith | Fri 15 Jun | Glee | £10
Goldsmith is the proprietor of the wonderful award winning Comedian’s Comedian podcast that has achieved more than two hundred episodes and seen Stuart interviewing the likes of Richard Herring, Sara Pascoe and Alan Davies. In latest show Like I Mean It the Goldsmith reflects intelligently, and hilariously, on life as forty year old husband and father. www.glee.co.uk

Mrs. Barbara Nice | Sun 17 Jun | Hare & Hounds | £5.50
Mother of five and Kings Heath housewife Barbara Nice headlines Laughs for Labour to raise money for Moseley & Kings Heath Labour Party. Alongside Barbara’s sharply observed reflections on tupperware, Take A Break magazine,  married life and frequent bouts of audience participation, are a raft of local comics including Av Singh, David Luck and Sham Zaman. www.skiddle.com

Count Arthur Strong | Sun 17 Jun | New Alex | £25.65
Continuing a long tradition of bumbling English buffoons managing to rise against adversity despite their own incumbent idiocy. The Count struggles on convinced of his own infallibility in a whirl of malapropisms and nervous tics as the universe relentlessly conspires to undermine him. The Count is a harmless innocent joy harking back to a simpler age, he’s also painfully funny. www.atgtickets.com

Pat Monahan & Darren Harriott | Thu 21 Jun | mac | £10
Another event exposing shows performed at the Edinburgh Fringe as part of the mac’s Edinbrum season features the award winning Irish Iranian comedian Pat Monahan, who also happens to hold the world record for the longest hug, 25 hours and 25 minutes for your information. Local funny man, the engaging and likeable Darren Harriott brings laughs borne of personal tragedy with an artful skill. macbirmingham.co.uk

Caitlin Moran | Thu 28 Jun | Town Hall | £32.50
Columnist and comic author Caitlin Moran returns to Birmingham with her unique brand of zeitgeist-friendly feisty feminist humour and quirky social and celebrity comment. In new show How to Be Famous, Caitlin will be discussing how to deal with the more problematic of celebrity. With series 2 of her TV sitcom Raised by Wolves launched, her much-loved column followed closely by a legion of fans and now a whole handful of books to her name, expect tickets to sell out fast. www.thsh.co.uk

George Egg | Fri 29 Jun & Sat 30 Jun | Glee | £16.95
The DIY anarchist chef George Egg comes to the Glee for two nights,  you may never look at your kitchen, or shed, in the same way again. A strong bill includes the fearlessly confrontational comic Kiri Pritchard McLean, the genial Australian Ray Badran and the intelligent and award winning comic Dane Baptiste. www.glee.co.uk