What's On at 53two
TESTING TESTING
With Toby Hadoke
STANDBY FOR MORE DATES!
Tickets £10 INCLUDING A £5 drinks voucher
PWYC Tickets Available
Free Carer Tix - email venue.
DOORS 7pm - SHOW 7:30pm
Presented by Toby Hadoke, top circuit comedians try out their new material in the arches of 53two. Who turns up, you never know but an evening of sheer quality is guaranteed.
With Rob Rouse, Roland Gent, Danny Clives , Daliso Chaponda, Alun Cochrane
Comedy at it's finest beneath the iconic brick arches of 53two.
Grab a pie and a pint before the show for just £10!
Testing, Testing is not quite like other gigs. We do things differently here. The acts have come for a safe, fun space to try their new stuff. They don’t need your “help” - so, thank goodness, you can leave your heckles at home. Also, the gig’s really good - so you don’t need your phone, and we ask you to respect your fellow audience members and the acts by taking any conversation you may wish to engage in outside. Toby’s an affable chap but he has zero tolerance for bad manners : comics like to do this show because he’s made it nice. Don’t be the one to make it not nice. Thank you!
XS MALARKEY
Every Tuesday*
(Check dates to confirm)
Doors: 7:00pm - Show: 8:00pm
Tickets £6
(£3 for members - become a member!)
XS Malarkey is a not-for-profit comedy club, hosted every week by Toby Hadoke, and eagerly maintained by a group of minions who do his bidding on a regular basis.
Despite our low door price, we put on shows with professional comedians and rising stars of the comedy circuit, also giving newcomers a chance to practise their material in front of a supportive and quite frankly fantastic audience, many of whom are just as obsessed with comedy as we are. We feed our audience’s comedy obsession by running a membership scheme charging a ludicrously cheap £3 per ticket. We don’t do group discounts, because to be honest – we’re cheap enough already!
Quizmas with Dr Q - The Christmas Quiz
20th December
5:30pm
£2 per person
Dr Q is BACK! Following on from our Pride Special, Dr Q has been scribbling his questions & is ready to rack your brains, but with some Christmas Sparkle!
Join us for all the usual fun, the same chaos & just a little sprinkling of festive magic. Cash Prizes, Spot Prizes, Fun Games & More!
Teams of up to 6 people. £2 per person.
FUNNYE
31st December
7:30pm (Doors: 7:00pm)
Carriages - 1am
Tickets:
£20.00 - General Admission
£150 - Table of 5 with Champagne
£100 - Table of 4 with Prosecco
PWYC Available
Join us for the third FunNYE - a New Years Eve celebration that gives you everything you need, and more. A line up of QUALITY stand up from some top UK comedians, led by the mighty Toby Hadoke.
This time with the awesome Frankie Monroe, Hannah Platt, Nick Doody followed by disco and dancing until the early hours.
All under one roof, an affordable, full evening of entertainment, in a safe, brilliant venue, in the heart of the city!
Come join us!
DIVINA DE CAMPO - BACK ON THE ROAD
16th January
7:30pm
Drag Race UK star and powerhouse vocalist Divina De Campo joins Ric 'the Piano Guy' Neale for an evening of soaring songs, signature humour, and sparkling cabaret. With effortless vocals, playful chemistry, and a show never the same twice, it's unplanned, unpredictable, and utterly unforgettable.
The Execution of Private Slovik
21st - 24th January 2026
7:30pm / 2:30pm Saturday Matinee
£12
France, 1945. Private Eddie Slovik's life hangs in the balance. In the hours before his execution, a group of senior officers must weigh their orders against their own humanity. Trapped together, loyalties splinter, tempers flare, and every man is forced to confront what justice, duty, and mercy truly mean.
The Execution of Private Slovik is a tense and unflinching play about the human cost of obedience. Inspired by true events, it forces us to ask: when the line between right and wrong blurs, who carries the weight of justice, and who lives with the consequences?
“A powerful achievement… ★★★★” – The Reviews Hub.
Run time - 80 mins
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Origin Story
1st & 2nd February
7:30pm
£7.50 (£4 Conc) - Exc Booking Fee
Three friends, Kurt, Dan, and Emily.
One morning, Kurt brings a gun into the flat and declares he’s bulletproof. He says this is his origin story. Dan, his flatmate and emotional enabler, keeps to the regular routine: banter, dry wit, the usual script. Then Emily arrives with a coffee and realises something’s seriously wrong. Or was it always like this?
As the morning unfolds, secrets emerge. There’s a grief nobody’s processed, a missing person no one’ll mention, and a friendship that’s started to spotlight as a codependent double act. Kurt wants to be someone (something) more interesting than who he is. Dan doesn’t know how to stop playing along. Emily’s tired of being the only one not playing for laughs.
Origin Story is Cups On Strings Productions' first production. Three friends, a gun, and a stolen story: what happens when grief and guilt are turned into spectacle.
Content Warnings: The piece includes sensitive topics such as depression, mental health struggles, and suicide.
Runtime: 1hr 30 mins - Interval: 15 mins
STAYIN' ALIVE
presented by One Madam Productions & Girl Gang Manchester
Stayin' Alive- Written by Victoria Oxley
Directed by Megan Marie Griffith
5th & 6th Feb
7:30pm
£7.50 (£4 Conc) - Exc Booking Fee
Maggie’s Nan is dead, her therapist is useless, and her sister is threatening to knock her out. Maggie? She’s still in her Nan’s house. The walls are closing in - but somewhere between the Blue Anchor pub and an Elkie Brookes record and a broken Alexa, she might just learn how she ended up here… and how to find a reason to stay.
Told with biting wit and brutal honesty, Stayin‘ Alive is a whirlwind through grief, sisterhood, survival - and a few of dodgy tribute acts. Maggie takes us inside a mind unravelling and rebuilding - one ritual, one memory, and one song (she'll never sing) at a time.
Commissioned by The Unity Theatre's talent development programme and premiered at Liverpool's Royal Court, Victoria Oxley’s unforgettable writing debut is raw, honest, and impossible to ignore. Told with a nostalgic soundtrack foregrounding the North West, don't miss the chance to connect with fierce and fragile Maggie in this "powerful, darkly comic dive into grief and self-discovery."
Starring Victoria Oxley as Maggie and Emma Bispham as Our Anne-Marie, Me Mum & Rob the Therapist plus a whole host of guest appearances.
Sound Design by Serafin Dinges
Enjoy a rapid round of North West Trivia with Sean Hyland in our post show fundraising pub quiz on Thursday and "donate to sing" karaoke classics on Friday to help us secure a future for the show!
Show running time approximately 1 hour 15 mins
SLAMCHESTER
15th February
7:30pm
£6 Advance - £8 on the door
LET’S GET READY TO RUMBLE
SLAMCHESTER is a raucous evening where the City’s best poets will compete over two scored rounds for the title of Slamchester champion and a cash prize. Expect punchy performances, passionate voices, and an atmosphere like no other.
“This is slam poetry at its best.” Four stars, The Reviews Hub
Adding to the excitement, there will be a special performance from the reigning slam champion Loll The Poet, who will showcase the razor-sharp writing and captivating delivery that earned them the crown.
Plus, the night features the much-loved Lucky Dip open mic section, offering fresh new voices the chance to share their words on the SLAMCHESTER stage.
SITUATIONSHIPS
18th & 19th Feb 2026
8:30pm
£10
The Greater Manchester Fringe Award nominated comedy play that offers an eye watering look into the world of modern dating.
Situationships is a comedy play that follows two women with very different ideas about dating; one, a hopeless romantic, the other a serial dating man eater, as they meet up for cocktails to discuss the men in their lives, only for chaos to unfold, secrets to spilled and relationships ruined. Situationships offers an honest, cringe inducing, laugh out loud exploration into the ever changing world of modern dating. Due to popular demand, these performances will feature a brand new second act, with even more dating horror stories, numbered boyfriends and drunk tarot readings.
The Em Show: Tales From A Little Laughing Lesbian
5th March 2026
7:30pm
£14.00 / £12.00 Conc. (Exc Booking Fee)
PWYC Available
Tales from a Little Laughing Lesbian is an electrifying one woman show packed with stand-up, improv, and clowning, all delivered through Em’s signature energy and joy. From therapy to parenting, marriage to motorbikes—no topic is off-limits in this hilarious journey of self-discovery. Uplifting, bold, and wildly funny, this is a show for everyone (yes, even non-lesbians!). So, are you ready to laugh, reflect, and maybe even see yourself in a whole new way?
Em Stroud is The Comic Coach. She’s an entrepreneur, performer, clown, speaker, emcee, best-selling author and two times TEDx speaker - having done one dressed as a banana! Produced by Manchester based artist Charlie Ayers this evening promises to be a night of laughter and joy.
Run time - 60 mins
IAIN LEE - IMPOPSTER SYNDROME
19th April 2026
7:30pm
£15 (Exc Booking Fee)
TV's Iain Lee invites you to commemorate his 30 years in showbusiness. He used to have impostor syndrome, believing he didn't deserve his success. Now at 52, Iain is starting to question his long held belief and consider the possibility that maybe he was actually decent.
Join him as he watches clips from the 11 O'Clock Show and provides a commentary letting you know what was going on behind the scenes and what people like Gervais and Sacha Baron Cohen were like to work with.
You'll also find out what makes Iain really angry as well as songs, jokes and plenty of indoor language.
After that there will be an interview and Q&A hosted by David Turners (The Compute Game Show).
Holmes & Watson; The Curious Case of The Masked Magician
8th April 2026
2:30pm
£15.00 / £12.00 Conc.
Family - £45 (Exc Booking Fee)
When (mid-show) the Masked Magician disappears, completely, magically and seemingly forever, Sherlock Holmes (with Watson in tow) plunges into a secret world of Edwardian Magic to solve the mystery of the missing Magi. A brand new Holmes and Watson adventure for all the family filled with Mayhem, Mirth, Mystery and…Magic!
"TELL ME EVERYTHING, HOLMES"
1t’s 1906 - the Golden Age of Magic. The Masked Magician, bestrides London’s world of Magic like a colossus, UNTIL..one night, mid-performance, the Magician vanishes. Dead? Kidnapped? In hiding?
After a month Scotland Yard is completely baffled (obviously) and calls in Sherlock Holmes to help solve the mystery of the Masked Magician’s disappearance. Holmes, with an excitable Watson in tow, plunges into the secret world of Edwardian Magic only to find that the Masked Magician’s identity is Magic's best kept secret.
As they meet, and question, the Magician‘s peers (seeing a lot of Magic), the mystery of his identity and fate deepens. As they unravel clue after clue, Holmes comes to share Watson’s wonder and discovers that it can sit alongside his logical outlook.
Run Time: 70 mins
A Sudden, Disturbing To Do List
13th May
8:00pm
£12 (Not inc. Booking Fee)
Phoebe is 28, a journalist, has OCD and is the queen of lists. On her mirror, on the fridge, all over her hands and…everywhere basically.
Her favourite lists are: 1) shopping, 2) favourite stationary, 3) least favourite numbers, 4) past jobs ranked in order of wanting to staple her earlobes to the table, 5) the missed opportunities folder in her emails.
She’s pretty sure keeping them is her healthiest habit, propelling her on towards being the most productive, best version of herself. So, when her lists are spawning lists and lists and lists and becoming an overwhelming listathon, and a pink fluffy monster appears under her duvet and starts spooning her while she sleeps: she’s sure there isn’t a problem.
Phoebe wonders if she needs her space: but the monster is a really good cook, plus they do all her washing for her. So why is she suddenly listing all the ways she might die?
Phoebe takes 'monster to do list' to a whole new level.
Funeral Teeth
16th May
7:30pm
£12 (£10 Concession) Not inc. Booking Fee
PWYC Tix Available
Maybe you’ve lost your marbles… Or maybe you’ve found the most transformative piece of theatre that you’ll see this year. Probably both. Nominated for a London Pub Theatres award in 2025 and debuted to rave reviews, the Succulent girlies are making waves on the scene with 'Funeral Teeth'.
What and who are we allowed to grieve? And does that really matter?
Loss is the only truly universal experience. Whether it’s coming to terms with the passing of a loved one, tucking the first tooth you’ve lost under your pillow, or realising that you have no idea where your wallet is after spending a blurry night boozing at the pub - we’ve all been there. What’s more, we’re going to keep coming face to face with loss. Lose yourself (geddit?) in the latest piece by Succulent Theatre, unpacking what loss looks like to them, what it looks like to you, and what it could look like for all of us.
Following the success of their debut show ‘NASTY: ‘Big’ girls being gross, mean and sexy’, the Succulent team bring another queer, autobiographical, confessional piece of theatre that’s gut-busting and gut-wrenching in equal measure.
Death, grief and loss can be scary to talk about, but if we don’t - we just feel alone. And grief already makes you feel alone. It’s not all doom and gloom, though. This feel-good tragicomedy will remind you that life is a celebration and every loss you experience is an opportunity for you to grow. Drugs, sex, love, family and friendship are at the centre of this contemplative work which really puts the ‘fun’ in funeral.
The stories shared are painfully true, often painfully funny, and will hold a mirror up to your own experiences in a way that you might not expect. In their signature style, Succulent dexterously guides you through their losses from cradle to grave. Come watch them pick at a brand new scab and see what comes oozing out.
Run time - 70 mins