][1]Edinburgh’s Fringe may stagger to an end on the 25th of this month but one of the festival’s biggest players is taking the show on the road to Glasgow. Now in its 30th year, Scotland’s longest running comedy club – The Gilded Balloon – is expanding west with the launch of a brand new comedy club in Glasgow, beginning Friday 29th August. The Gilded Balloon will be running shows at Drygate Brewing Co in Glasgow’s East End. The 5pm Dining blog thinks that mixing craft beer and comedy sounds like a crazy idea… but it just might work. Launching comics Established in 1986 by Karen Koren, The Gilded Balloon has played a significant role in launching the careers of comics such as Eddie Izzard, Tim Minchin, Peter Kay, Jimmy Carr and Bill Bailey. Curated by Karen Koren, the club will feature two three act shows running 7.30pm-9.30pm and 10pm-midnight every Friday. The shows will be led by comperes Zoe Lyons, Micky Dwyer, Ray Bradshaw and Scott Agnew. The Vintage at Drygate will be serving a pre and post-show menu as part of a range of dinner and comedy packages. First class comedy, food and craft beer Gilded Balloon Artistic Director, Karen Koren, explained more about the club: ‘It’s been twenty years since Gilded Balloon had a regular venue to present comedy in Glasgow and we’re really excited to be joining up with Drygate and The Vintage. ‘Drygate is the ideal environment where audiences will be able to experience first class comedy, food and craft beer all under one roof. We’re looking forward to a long association with Drygate and bringing regular comedy back to the west coast.’ The first Gilded Balloon at Drygate club night will take place on Friday 29th of August and features John Hastings, Chris Forbes, Vladimir McTavish and Scott Agnew as compere. Tickets for Gilded Balloon Comedy at Drygate are on sale now from £15: www.gildedballoon.co.uk www.drygate.com