Staff Picks: The New January

Happy New Year!

We thought we'd ring in 2015 by providing the antidote to your usual January. You know, the cold long January where everybody's ill, saving their pennies, abstaining from all sorts – the January where there's just not much happening.

So we've scoured the 86,954 events currently listed on Ents24 to handpick a select range of affordable events happening nationwide in the worlds of theatre, comedy, ballet and music this month.

All of them are vouched for by someone at Ents24 HQ, all of them are less than £30 a ticket (some will leave you change from a tenner) and they're all happening between today and January 31st.

So why not buck the trend and make January the month you discover an incredible new production, comedian or artist – or just the month you try something completely new?

Alex recommends:

Theatre - Russian State Ballet of Siberia

Music - Mark Lanegan

Music - Alvvays

Music - Neneh Cherry

Comedy - Omid Djalili

Chris recommends:

Theatre – Wicked

Adele recommends:

Comedy - Ross Noble

Graham recommends:

Music - J Mascis

Music – Nils Lofgren

Adam recommends:

Comedy - Katherine Ryan

Music - Emmy the Great

Theatre - Muppits Die Hard (£5.50 tickets)

Neil recommends:

Music – Frankie and the Heartstrings (£5.50 - £7.70 tickets)

Mark recommends:

Music - First Aid Kit

Dannii recommends:

Music - Die Antwoord

Music – Roy Ayers

and finally, our guide to January wouldn't be complete without a mention of Free For All – a month-long event at Bristol's Stag and Hounds with 150 bands playing for free throughout January. Stag and Hounds, we salute you.

Plus, of course, you can see the entire range of events on offer nationwide in January right here.