Our pick of this week's comedy gigs – plus Edinburgh previews
Sunday: Comedians (Ava Vidal, Prince Abdi, Sarah Bennetto, Chris Coltrane, Ben Target and Tom Goodliffe) and funny spoken word performers (Rob Auton, Daniel Cockrill, Katie Bonna, Martin Galton, Peter Hayhoe and Richard Marsh) are doing a fundraiser for people with aphasia – communication disabilities following a stroke or brain trauma. Tiernan Douieb hosts at the Southwark Playhouse (7.30pm, £20 / £15).
Stuart Goldsmith and Paul F Taylor are Edinburgh bound, making a stop at the Vandella first to check the material's OK (8pm, £6).
Monday: Sketch group The Three Englishman are embarking on a comedy pub crawl over the next couple of weeks, doing a mixture of old and new material plus bringing some mates along. Adam Hess joins in at The Canal Cafe Theatre tonight (7.30pm, £6 / £5).
Two Edinburgh previews at the Leicester Square: 2011 newcomer nominee Cariad Lloyd (pictured; 7pm, £8.50 / £7.50) and Naz Osmanoglu (10pm, £5). Or try a double bill of Roisin Conaty and Carl Donnelly at Happy Mondays in New Cross (8pm, £5.95 adv).
Tuesday: Two shows back to back at Leicester Square Theatre tonight: Hennessy & Friends: A History Of Violence is character comedy from the brain of Miranda Hennessy, much beloved by the Guardian this week (7pm, £7), then Monster boasts a line-up featuring Pat Cahill, Holly Burn, The Three Englishmen, Delete the Banjax, Jez Scharf and Frimston and Rowett – and all proceeds go to charity (8.30pm, £8).
Matthew Crosby prepares a new solo show at the Pleasance (8pm, £5), and twice-nominated Josie Long previews for three nights at the Battersea Arts Centre (9.30pm, £10 / £8).
Wednesday: Alex Horne, Robin Ince, Paul Foot, Jen Brister, Terry Alderton and host Paul Tonkinson are at the Bloomsbury Theatre, raising money for Crisis (7.30pm, £15 / £12.50).
See Danielle Ward and Bridget Christie test out their new shows at the Camden Head (7.30pm, £3), or Peacock and Gamble continuing their move from podcast to live at Hen and Chickens (9.30pm, £6.50).
Thursday: Andrew Maxwell's in the middle of a run of last year's Edinburgh show at the Soho Theatre. It bagged him a Foster's Comedy Award nomination (9.45pm, £12.50-£17.50).
WitTank try new characters and sketches at the Hen and Chickens (9.30pm, £6) or at Kings Place there's a double bill of sketch and improv previews from The Beta Males and The Noise Next Door (8pm, £12.50 / £9.50).
Friday: Bec Hill's +1 at the Camden Head is Celia Pacquola, a lovely double header of engaging Antipodeans (7.30pm, £5).
Two-thirds of WitTank, Kieran Boyd and Mark Cooper-Jones, preview new stuff at Leicester Square Theatre (8.30pm, £7 / £5).
Saturday: Holly Walsh's Edinburgh nominated show The Hollycopter is on for two nights at the Soho Theatre; this is the second, so go and find out why it's not a good idea to fly off a pier in a homemade aviation machine (9.30pm, £12.50 / £10).
Book ahead: Jack Dee is working up a new show – see how it's shaping up at the Pleasance on 14 September (8pm, £15).
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