Outside The Box has been putting on comedy nights since 2006, when it started life in Kingston with one simple aim: a club that comedians actually wanted to play and audiences actually wanted to go back to, and it worked.

Chortle named it “Best Small Venue” within six months of launching, and The Guardian later ranked it the 4th best comedy club in the UK. We’re luck enough in Stockport to have a monthly night at The Garrick Theatre, and on Friday 7th August it's bringing four acts who between them cover ex-football hooligan turned author, deadpan one-liners, chaos-as-comedy to a Northern crowd:

Eddy Brimson

‍Eddy's back story alone is a set: former football hooligan turned writer, actor and regular talking head on everything from dodgy builders to sexy baldness. He's written seven best-selling books (160,000+ copies sold), appeared in EastEnders, Casualty, The Bill and Ab Fab, and hosted Bravo's The Basement: a show that once covered a live hair transplant and the British Lawn Mower Grand Prix in the same series. Built himself a proper cult following among UK and European football fans off the back of it.

‍Stephen Cookson

‍ Cookson's the one racking up the trophy cabinet — winner of the World One Liner Championship in 2019, King Gong at Manchester's Comedy Store, and Comedy Gladiators in Bristol, among others. Gary Delaney's called him "worryingly funny," and Phil Walker reckons his timing is way ahead of where you'd expect for someone this far into the circuit. If deadpan, tightly-written one-liners are your thing, this is the set to watch.

Dom Hatton-Woods

‍ Dom's built a following (10 million+ views online) out of turning his own personal chaos into punchlines — sharp, sarcastic, and very online in the best way. If you like comedy that finds the absurd in ordinary disasters rather than reaching for shock value, he's the one.

‍ MC Colin Manford

‍ ‍Hosting duties go to Colin Manford, a Northern comic known for warm crowd work and keeping a room together between acts without ever feeling like filler. He's written for 8 Out of 10 Cats and Walk on the Wild Side, and has the kind of easy, likeable delivery that makes him as comfortable running a big room as doing five minutes of stand-up.

Tickets on sale now

‍ ‍Line-ups are subject to change, so it's worth keeping an eye on the Outside The Box site nearer the date. For more of what's on in SK this month, check our What's On guide.