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Laughter is certainly the best medicine - even if you’re not ill! Why not get your ribs well and truly tickled over the next few weeks by attending one or more of the following laughter-fests...
AL MURRAY
“I love being a pub landlord,” says Al Murray. “It’s a truly great calling. You’re there to soothe troubled souls, pour balm on troubled waters, make people’s important moments in their lives extra special, and provide a range of snacks. What’s not to like?
”
Al is on tour this year with brand-new show All You Need Is Guv.
Warwick Arts Centre, Coventry, Thursday 1 October
BARRY FROM WATFORD
‘Fierce one-liners, biting satire, plus some effing and that sort of thing for the teens’ all feature on the menu when Barry From Watford visits the Midlands with his latest stand-up show, Shooting From The New Hip.
The critically acclaimed creation of actor, comedian & voice artist Alex Lowe, Barry is a sweary nonagenarian who first came to the wider public’s attention courtesy of a series of prank calls to a London phone-in show.
He later became a regular contributor to BBC Radio Two’s Steve Wright In The Afternoon...
Alex is also well known for playing the character of hapless clairvoyant, medium & psychic Clinton Baptiste, who will be making a guest appearance in Barry From Watford’s two West Midlands shows.
The Glee Club, Birmingham, Thursday 1 October
DANIEL O'REILLY
Daniel O’Reilly reckons his life has resembled a rollercoaster ride - and he’s stopping off in the Midlands this month to tell his legion of fans all about it.
The London-born comic originally made his name over a decade ago as the character Dapper Laughs, but an ill-advised joke about rape put the brakes on what had seemed to be a promising career.
The years which followed saw him battling a drug and alcohol addiction, and fighting hard to reestablish himself on the UK comedy scene.
Now, having been sober for more than 1,000 days, Daniel is out on the road again. He’s performing his latest stand-up show, Let’s Have It, under his own name - and joking that he hopes he gets cancelled, as he could do with a bit of a break.
Crewe Lyceum Theatre, Fri 2 October
GARY DELANEY
“The hardest part of running competitively in Wales must be keeping up with the Joneses,” quips the ever-popular Gary Delaney.
And Gary’s certainly no one-joke pony: “My girlfriend’s dog died, so to cheer her up, I went out and got her an identical one. She was livid and yelled ‘What am I going to do with two dead dogs?’”
Suffice it to say there will be plenty more gags where those came from when the Solihull-born funnyman visits Lichfield with his latest touring show, Gary On Laughing.
Royal Spa Centre, Leamington Spa, Friday 2 October; Regent Theatre, Stoke-on-Trent, Friday 23 October; Dudley Town Hall, Sunday 1 November
HANNAH EAST
Brand-new skits, more wigs, celebrity send-ups and laugh-out-loud moments are promised by Hannah East when she visits the Midlands this month with her latest comedy offering, in which she takes a deep dive into the highs and lows of parenting.
Hannah splits her professional life between stand-up and presenting. “After graduating, I competed on the TV show Gladiators,” explains Hannah. “During the semi-final stage, I was waiting for a scene to be filmed with [ex-footballer] Ian Wright when he told me to read Caroline Flack’s autocue. After doing this, he gave me some advice - I should go into presenting. The rest, as they say, is history!”
Royal Spa Centre, Leamington Spa, Saturday 3 October; Glee Club, Birmingham, Thursday 15 October; Huntingdon Hall, Worcester, Friday 16 October; Kings Hall, Stoke-on-Trent, Sunday 15 November
LUCY BEAUMONT
No less a comedian than the highly praised Arthur Smith once described Lucy Beaumont as ‘the next Victoria Wood in the making’. Others have called her ‘a riot’ and praised her ‘devastating comic timing’.
For Lucy’s part, though, she’s just grateful that performing no longer feels like an out-of-body experience.
“I started out acting but quickly realised I needed to try something else,” says the Hull-born comedian, who was diagnosed with ADHD a couple of years back. “I’ve had all sorts of humorous things happen to me in my life, so I thought it made sense to see how I’d do at being funny.”
Lucy visits the region this month and next with new stand-up offering Bad At Quiz Shows, Good With Weirdos.
Warwick Arts Centre, Coventry, Thursday 8 October
HENNING WEHN
Presenting a style of humour that’s been described as ‘Teutonic jolliness at its best’, self-appointed German comedy ambassador Henning Wehn tours to the Midlands this month with new show Acid Wehn.
Samples of his comedy include: “With stand-up in Britain, what you have to do is bloody swearing. In Germany, we don’t have to swear. Reason being, things work.”
And also: “World War Two was a painful time for my family. My grandfather died in a concentration camp. He got drunk one night and fell out of his guard tower...”
Walsall Arena, Friday 9 October
KANE BROWN
Parenthood, family life, relationships and British culture are among the subjects to which Kane Brown regularly returns during his live shows. The one-time direct-sales executive kickstarted his current career back in 2006 when he enrolled in a two-week course in standup-comedy, since which time he’s honed his rib-tickling talents to excellent effect.
Kane visits the region this month with Crowd Work King, a show which is described as 60 minutes of purely unscripted and unplanned comedy, entirely based around audience participation.
Warwick Arts Centre, Coventry, Friday 9 October
JONNY COLE
“It’s difficult for me to put my brand of comedy into an industry-standard soundbite,” says local comedian Jonny Cole. “There are a lot of people who love Black Country humour and who’d love to go into a rough & ready Black Country pub just to listen to the banter - and that’s exactly what I do. I’ve absorbed Black Country humour the whole of my life. I take it out of that pub - where people wouldn’t dare go, in case they got their teeth knocked out - and I put it into a safe, controlled environment where they can enjoy it.”
Lichfield Garrick, Friday 9 & Saturday 10 October; Utilita Arena Birmingham, Tuesday 3 November
MAISIE ADAM
Quirky. Effervescent. A female Peter Kay. Descriptions of Maisie Adam abound - a sure sign that she’s serving up a brand of comedy that critics are keen to talk about.
Widely considered to be one of the brightest stars in the UK comedy firmament, Yorkshire-born Maisie has become a familiar face on television screens, appearing in everything from Live At The Apollo to her very own comedy special on Sky... She’s out on tour this autumn and winter with her latest stand-up show, Whatsherface.
Warwick Arts Centre, Coventry, Friday 9 October; Birmingham Town Hall, Thursday 5 November; The Alexandra, Birmingham, Friday 26 February; Victoria Hall, Stoke-on-Trent, Thursday 4 March; Royal Spa Centre, Leamington Spa, Friday 12 March
PAUL FOOT
Not so much a teller of gags, Paul Foot’s routines involve him sharing with his audience the seemingly random and intriguingly surreal thoughts that make their way through his ever-busy mind. “I’d like to do a TV show,” he told comedy.co.uk, by way of example, “in which I enter an unsuspecting family’s house at dinner time, violently upturn tables, hurl all the crockery and food at the walls and scream ‘Oh how the tables have turned!’”
On the subject of television shows, Paul admits he doesn’t appear on anywhere near as many as some other comedians. “People know when a TV show needs me and the phone will ring. Quite often I’m in the bath, though, or smashing specially purchased greenhouses with a golf club in the garden.”
Midlands Arts Centre, Birmingham, Saturday 10 October
JONATHAN PIE
The media’s decision to pounce on Jeremy Corbyn in the wake of his first Labour leadership victory lit the torchpaper for actor Tom Walker to create the larger-than-life character of Jonathan Pie.
YouTube sensation Pie is supposedly a British political correspondent - but one who likes to rant at the camera.
With the climate collapsing, AI about to rule and ruin people’s lives, and World War Three feeling distinctly possible, Tom’s latest outing as the UK’s angriest news reporter sees him providing a helpful guide to surviving the impending apocalypse.
Civic Hall, Wolverhampton, Saturday 10 October; The Alexandra, Birmingham, Wednesday 21 October; Victoria Hall, Stoke-on-Trent, Thursday 22 October; Warwick Arts Centre, Coventry, Friday 27 November
RHYS JAMES
The gags come thick and fast when Rhys James is in town...
The Mock The Week comedian is visiting the Midlands next month with Chop Logic, a brand-new offering described by his publicity as ‘a fast, forensic show of big ideas and gag-dense overthinking from one of the nation’s sharpest stand-ups.’
“It’s been three years since I last did a tour, and frankly, I didn’t know if I ever would again,” says the 35-year-old comic, in talking about the new show. “But then I accidentally left a stool sample on a train and came up with a way to fix the whole country, and those aren’t the sorts of things you can just keep to yourself.”
Huntingdon Hall, Worcester, Saturday 10 October; Stafford Gatehouse Theatre, Sunday 4 April; Birmingham Town Hall, Friday 23 April; Theatre Severn, Shrewsbury, Saturday 1 May; Warwick Arts Centre, Coventry, Friday 7 May
IGNACIO LOPEZ
Cardiff-based Spanish/Welsh comedian Ignacio Lopez is a man with a rapidly growing fanbase. Not only have his videos been watched by well in excess of 20 million people, he’s even had to tell a Live At The Apollo audience to quit laughing so that he could finish his act before his time ran out. “Telling more than 3,000 people to shut up was a definite career high!” says Ignacio.
He’s visiting the West Midlands region this month with Nada, a show described by its publicity as ‘an intricate story of mystery and suspense packed with sarcasm, silliness and huge laughs’.
Theatre Severn, Shrewsbury, Sunday 11 October; Stafford Gatehouse, Saturday 17 October; The Glee Club, Birmingham, Wednesday 21 October
NISH KUMAR
“Once you get established as a comedian,” says Nish Kumar, “you have to start taking comedy seriously, which is obviously an oxymoron. When you’re a nobody, you can just go up to the Edinburgh Fringe to get drunk and have fun.”
Nish’s days of anonymity - inebriated or otherwise - are a long way behind him. The London-born comedian has hit the big time, and done so simply by being his usual affable self. “For years, I thought comedians had to be confrontational or awkward,” he told the Guardian. “But then I realised, if people basically like you and think you’re an okay guy, they’ll listen to you talk about absolutely anything.”
Birmingham Town Hall, Thursday 15 October; Warwick Arts Centre, Coventry, Saturday 21 November
PHIL WANG
Phil Wang’s first-ever five minutes behind the mic as a stand-up comedian were spent telling other people’s gags.
“I thought stand-up was like karaoke with jokes,” he recalls. “Most of the material I used was stolen, but I learned fast and immediately started writing my own material.”
Inspired to become a comedian by his desire to avoid having to get up in the mornings, Phil visits Birmingham next month with latest show UH OH.
Victoria Hall, Stoke-on-Trent, Thursday 15 October; Warwick Arts Centre, Coventry, Saturday 24 October; The Alexandra, Birmingham, Sunday 21 March
SEANN WALSH
With appearances on shows including Mock The Week and Strictly Come Dancing to his name - the latter seeing him hitting the headlines for all the wrong reasons - Seann Walsh has been likened to the legendary Billy Connolly in terms of his gift for storytelling.
His jokes aren’t bad either. Two examples are as follows... “I don’t understand swimming. You don’t see fish going for a walk.” And “Are city-centre beat officers police who rap?”
Fresh from participating in series two of I’m A Celebrity... South Africa - he also featured in the Australian-jungle version of the series back in 2022 - Seann visits the Midlands this month with his latest touring show, This Is Torture.
The Brewhouse Arts Centre, Burton upon Trent, Saturday 17 October
NURSE GEORGIE CARROLL
Georgie Carroll is back with her brand-new show, Infectious - she’s razor sharp and riotous!
Nurse turned comedian, Georgie Carroll is not only brilliantly funny, she is unstoppable on the comedy circuit having performed her smash hit award winning show Sista Flo 2.0 for three solid years of sold out seasons (UK, NZ, AU).
The Halls, Wolverhampton, Saturday 17 October; Victoria Hall, Stoke-on-Trent, Sunday 18 October; Warwick Arts Centre, Coventry, Sunday 1 November
LENNY HENRY
Lenny Henry’s career has taken many a twist and turn since he shot to stardom half a century ago, winning the television talent contest New Faces with a set that included impersonations of, among others, Frank Spencer and Stevie Wonder.
From taking custard pies in the face on legendary Saturday-morning kids’ show Tiswas, to garnering critical acclaim on stage as Othello, the Dudley born & bred funnyman has constantly sought new projects with which to challenge himself.
His visit to his native West Midlands this month sees him taking a look back at his stellar career, returning to the experiences that shaped him while also exploring the ideas and creative sparks that continue to keep him inspired and motivated.
The Alexandra, Birmingham, Monday 19 October
IVO GRAHAM
Seriously posh and admirably self-deprecating, Ivo Graham won plenty of new fans in 2019 when one of his gags was nominated for the coveted ‘best joke of the Edinburgh Fringe’ award...
“I’ve got an Eton-themed advent calendar,” explained Ivo, “where all the doors are opened for me by my dad’s contacts.”
The Tokyo-born Oxford alumnus visits the Midlands with latest show Orange Crush.
Lichfield Garrick, Friday 23 October
ALFIE MOORE
Staunch Sheffield socialist Alfie Moore is a master raconteur and a very funny man.
He also used to be a police officer...
Indeed, back in the days when he was both a comedian and a cop, his website advised that if you wanted to see Alfie ‘live’, you had two options: either catch him at one of his comedy gigs, or drive to Scunthorpe and park on a double yellow line!
With his gag-bag including “I'm in a same-sex marriage... the sex is always the same”, he stops off in Newcastle-under-Lyme this month with latest show Acopalypse Now.
Lichfield Garrick, Saturday 24 October
HARRY ENFIELD AND NO CHUMS
Think Harry Enfield and it’s almost impossible not to follow up with a thought about Paul Whitehouse, a fellow laughter merchant with whom Harry has a long and impressive comedy history. Having first teamed up in the late 1980s, the pair went on to create such memorable characters as the Old Gits, the Self-Righteous Brothers and the Radio One DJ-parodying Smashie & Nicey.
But while Paul has, in more recent times, Gone Fishing with another much-loved purveyor of mirth, Bob Mortimer, Harry is going it alone with this brand-new live-on-stage endeavour. A lighthearted reflection on 40 years spent making people laugh, the show revisits much-loved characters like Thatcherite visionary Loadsamoney and Kevin the Teenager. A Q&A session also features, so get your questions ready...
Symphony Hall, Birmingham, Wednesday 28 October; Victoria Hall, Stoke-on-Trent, Friday 13 November
CHRIS RAMSEY
As well as being a highly rated stand-up, Geordie boy Chris Ramsey has developed an impressive telly career, appearing on shows including 8 Out Of 10 Cats and Strictly Come Dancing (reaching the semi-finals in 2019). He’s scored a big hit in the podcast world, too, with Sh*gged. Married. Annoyed, which he co-hosts with his wife, singer & actress Rosie Winter.
He’s visiting the Midlands with Here, Man!, a show he toured in the spring to great critical acclaim - so much so, in fact, that he decided to add these autumn dates.
Chris’ gags include: “My venue for the Edinburgh Festival is a portacabin; it’s literally a portacabin! I’m a Geordie, in a portacabin. I was going to call the show Auf Wiedersehen Pet Live.”
Warwick Arts Centre, Coventry, Friday 30 October; The Alexandra, Birmingham, Friday 27 November
MICHAEL AKADIRI
A contemplation of the difference between perception and reality lies at the heart of this new show from resident doctor and award-winning comedian Michael Akadiri.
Although still working in the NHS, Michael is nowadays more a comedian who heals folks than a doctor who tells jokes... His stop-offs in the region this month and next provide Midlanders with the perfect opportunity to find out why he’s widely considered to be one of the UK’s fastest-rising comedy stars.
Warwick Arts Centre, Coventry, Friday 30 October; Glee Club, Birmingham, Friday 27 November
PAUL SMITH
Affable Liverpool comedian Paul Smith has waxed lyrical on all manner of topics in his time, including such peculiar subjects as who he’d most like to be haunted by (Ghandi - Paul reckons he’d do it quite quietly) and which is the largest animal he thinks he could beat in a fight (a goose). He’s also ‘died’ on stage in front of a Babylon 5 actress, who made matters worse for him by shaking her head in pity...
Widely regarded as one of the comedy circuit’s most accomplished MCs, Paul has made a real name for himself courtesy of online video clips which almost routinely go viral.
Victoria Hall, Stoke-on-Trent, Wednesday 11 November
MICK MILLER
It’s a toss-up whether veteran comedian Mick Miller is best known for his comedy or his hair, but the good news for his legion of Midlands fans is that he’ll be bringing both along with him to this Black Country gig.
Tickling ribs for the better part of half a century, Mick is as committed as he’s ever been to keeping his stand-up show fresh and funny. Post-interval in Dudley, he’ll be sitting down with close friend and fellow funnyman Ryan Gleeson to chat about his career in comedy. A good night is pretty much a guarantee.
Kings Hall, Stoke-on-Trent, Sunday 15 November
TEZ ILYAS
Silly, smart and subversive humour is the name of Tez Ilyas’ comedy game. And as the rapid growth of his fanbase ably illustrates, he’s extremely good at what he does.
Tez’s political stand-up has been likened to candyfloss with a razorblade hidden inside, while his television work has brought him to the attention of a whole new audience.
The fact that he’s been able to hit the right notes with so many people comes as no surprise to Tez himself: “It doesn’t matter what walk of life we’re from, I think we’re all united by the British sense of humour.
“Whatever creed, colour, sexual orientation or gender type we are, we have a connection based around a mutual appreciation of that sort of comedy.”
Warwick Arts Centre, Coventry, Sunday 22 November
FIN TAYLOR
Fin Taylor has got some way to go before he becomes a real household name, but he’s certainly heading in the right direction.
A comedian who doesn’t shy away from engaging with provocative issues, he’s stopping off at three West Midlands venues this autumn as part of his biggest-ever tour.
Birmingham Town Hall, Thursday 26 November
MARK SIMMONS
A runner-up in the Top 10 Jokes of the Edinburgh Fringe competition in 2022 - “Did you know, if you get pregnant in the Amazon, it’s next-day delivery” - Mark Simmons went one better in 2024, emerging from the summertime get-together in the Scottish capital with the Funniest Joke award: “I was going to sail around the globe in the world’s smallest ship, but I bottled it.”
And there’s plenty more where those little gems came from, with Mark’s talent for one-liners knowing no bounds.
The Glee Club, Birmingham, Thursday 26 November
SCOTT BENNETT
The next few weeks see Scott Bennett offering comedy-loving Midlanders plenty of opportunity to find out exactly why he’s such a highly rated (albeit relatively low profile) comedian.
Scott has been referred to as live comedy’s best-kept secret, with critics praising him for developing a style that comes complete with flashes of Peter Kay, John Bishop and Jason Manford.
Hugely popular on the corporate circuit, Yorkshire-born Scott is using his latest tour to contemplate the way in which people’s liking for ‘stuff’ sits at odds with the looming environmental crisis.
Warwick Arts Centre, Coventry, Saturday 6 February