Our selection of London’s alternative, clever and offbeat comedy gigs this week.
Dirty Book Club
Robin Ince kicks off a new monthly club at The Old Queen's Head on Essex Road: on 20 January it's The Dirty Book Club, in February it'll be Your Art is Dead, then alternating. There are just a few tickets left so grab them while you can. £11 / £8.80, 8pm
Sheeps
One of our favourite sketch groups, Sheeps are working on new material at the Invisible Dot 20-22 January. £8, 9.30pm
The Jest
There's more sketch comedy-in-progress from The Jest, slimmed down from massive sketch troupe Simply the Jest, on 21 January at Hen and Chickens. £9 / £8, 7.30pm
Festival of the Spoken Nerd
Hooray! Festival of the Spoken Nerd is back with a new show full of science, songs and general geekery (as demonstrated in the video below). See Helen Arney, Matt Parker and Steve Mould at Bloomsbury Theatre on 24-25 January, £15 / £13 + bf, 8pm. Saturday's show has STAGETEXT.
Sarah Kendall
The last time we saw Sarah Kendall she was massively pregnant but still barely sat down during her hour-long set. She's tough, so it's perhaps no surprise to discover her latest show is about women's touch football. See it at the Hen and Chickens in Islington on 24 January and 7-8 February, £7.50, 9.30pm
Knock2Bag
This is a cracking line-up: wicked sketch duo Cardinal Burns, Brendon Burns, Ivo Graham, Ben Target, Ed Gamble, Elis James and Romesh Ranganathan are all at Rich Mix for Knock2Bag on 25 January. £8 + bf, 7.30pm
Tip us off to friendly, intelligent, alternative comedy around town on hello@londonist.com, read our guide to watching live comedy in London and our top 10 themed comedy nights.