This week's new comedy

Barry And Stuart: Powered By Demons, London BBC1's recent Saturday night offering The Magicians might have been a bit of a hit-and-miss affair, based on the questionable idea that audiences would rather see the likes of Samantha Womack or Peter Jones from Dragons' Den performing tricks rather than professional conjurors. But it did introduce excellent young Scottish magicians Barry and Stuart to a wider audience. Free of the constraints of family-friendly primetime entertainment and back in their usual habitat of the live comedy circuit, the pair can let loose the more gothic and grotesque side of their act. This is magic with a hard edge, with elements of body horror plus the occasional splash of blood and guts. Barry Jones and Stuart MacLeod met as teenagers in Aberdeen, and it sometimes seems like they haven't quite managed to grow up. Instead, they're mischievous but sinister, wreaking havoc on the adult world. Soho Theatre, W1, Wed to Fri Ed Byrne: Crowd Pleaser, On tour The term "crowd pleaser" is a real backhanded compliment in comedy, being associated with stale, hackneyed, button-pushing routines. So it's safe to assume the title of his latest touring show is a typically tongue-in-cheek move from Irish stand-up Ed Byrne. Because, while he may have flirted with the mainstream via appearing on Mock The Week, Byrne is a crowd-pleaser in the best sense: original, distinctive and humorous. His material is anchored in his bizarre everyday life, and his serial failure to cope with the most mundane situations. And while he's recently been involved in a ludicrously unlikely Twitter spat with Keith Chegwin, he comes across as most likable, generating inevitable warmth from fish-out-of-water anecdotes. MK Theatre, Milton Keynes, Sun; Colston Hall, Bristol, Tue; Anvil Arts, Basingstoke, Wed; Waterside Hall, Aylesbury, Thu; Concert Hall, Dudley, Fri Mike Wozniak And Henry Paker: The Golden Lizard, London Rammed with big ideas and bold creative choices, The Golden Lizard brings something new to sketch comedy. Devised by a moustached ex-doctor, Mike Wozniak, and stooping stand-up and cartoonist Henry Paker, the show is ostensibly a sort-of thriller about a search for a missing scientist. But the plot soon proves as elusive as the boffin, rapidly abandoned in favour of increasingly bizarre left turns and hilarious digressions, including a hilarious routine about devising a new system of mathematics. Throughout proceedings, the duo play subversive games with audience expectations, as well as with the conventions of sketch comedy. They swap characters in the middle of scenes, introduce and abandon startling new plot developments, and create an atmosphere where it's impossible to predict what will happen next. The result is an hour of comedy that seems both random and meticulously well-planned. Soho Theatre, W1, Thu, Fri