It Might Get Ugly 2, The Harrison Bar

Comic enigma Karl Schultz is an intoxicating wordsmith – and listening to his surreal sets is a weirdly dangerous, beguiling experience that you might not always follow, but will nonetheless be delighted you’re witnessing. Quite how comedy A-listers Bridget Christie, Josie Long, John Kearns, Brett Goldstein and Bob Slayer will negotiate this double-edged showmanship on February 4, in an evening ' where comedians are challenged to be honest to the point of regret' , is anybody’s guess really. But you’d be a fool not to snap up the opportunity to find out.

It Might Get Ugly is the newest and most exciting comedy night in London and this only its second re-animation – having debuted in December. The idea, Schultz told us, is to take the circuit’s best and most interesting acts, take them out of their comfort zone and thereby let you ‘see them do something that’s not just new for an audience but for them as well’.

Thus the night sees Schulz charm his way into the innermost confessionals of a comedic line-up such as dreams are made of: people, he says, who he feels ‘could disclose some kind of self-communion worth sharing and be very funny with it’. 

2013 Edinburgh Comedy Award-winner Bridget Christie needs no introduction, nor does BBC Radio 4 favourite and stand-up-turned-filmmaker Josie Long. John Kearns was Fosters Comedy’s Best Newcomer in 2013, and comes fresh from his rave-reviewed Sight Gags for Perverts show at the Soho Theatre, Brett Goldstein is a sometime star in Ricky Gervais’s Derek, and Bob Slayer is a band manager turned comedy rulebreaker who has delighted and dumbfounded Australia in equal turns.

Did it get ugly last time? We asked Schultz, and this is what came from his horse’s mouth: ‘It got a bit everything. Woozying revelations crashing like golden cymbals, a cardiac rouge in our basilica of charged reverie. Oh it were good. As far as I can gather, you still get the comedian you know. But in this context their resonance mushrooms. I think this is the best thing I've ever done.’

We’re inclined to agree. This is a must-see for stand-up aficionados and the curious alike. Grab tickets while you can.