More Comedy News
-
John Cleese to tour with The Holy Grail
Posted on Fri 29 May
-
Top shows coming to Birmingham Arenas this summer
Posted on Fri 29 May
-
Six great shows coming to University of Wolverhampton at The Halls this spring
Posted on Tue 07 Apr
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...
AYOADE BAMGBOYE
Born in London, raised in Lagos, sacked in Budapest (she was working as an assistant to film director Yorgos Lanthimos on his movie Poor Things) is how Ayoade Bamgboye describes herself.
Another description would be ‘Edinburgh Fringe debutant who walked away with the Best Newcomer award in 2025’.
Ayoade is heading for Birmingham this month with the stand-up offering that earned her that coveted festival gong last summer.
Taking the title Swings & Roundabouts, the show is about ‘going nowhere fast, being too British to stop apologising and too Nigerian to stop shouting’.
Midlands Arts Centre (MAC), Birmingham, Thursday 23 July
COMEDY ALL STARS
The Comedy All Stars show returns to Dudley Town Hall late this month with another line-up of top comedians... The show will feature sets by Milton Jones, Nick Helm (pictured), Aurie Styla and Babatunde Aléshé.
Dudley Town Hall, Saturday 25 July
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 29 July & Wednesday 11 November
MILTON JONES
With a style of humour that’s mainly based around puns and one-liners, Milton Jones has established himself as one of Britain’s most in-demand funnymen.
“If my comedy is working well, I put a cartoon in people’s heads that surprises them,” explains Milton. “So you start off and they’re thinking one thing, then you surprise them by changing the ending as you go along. It’s not political or particularly edgy, it’s just daft.”
Milton’s gags include: “Militant feminists - I take my hat off to them. They don’t like that,” and, “Recently on a flight to America, all the way across, my wife was going, ‘Why don’t you get an upgrade, why don’t you get an upgrade?’ It took a bit of time, but in the end I got a better wife.”
Milton is joined in Walsall by fellow comedians Tom Wrigglesworth and Ian Crawford. Wayne Beese MCs.
Walsall Arena, Sunday 2 August
STAND UP COMEDY AT THE AMPHITHEATRE
A newly redeveloped amphitheatre, a hopefully fine summer’s evening, and the opportunity to enjoy three talented comedians as they grapple with the challenge of tickling the ribs of the assembled throng. What’s not to like?... `
David Eagle comperes the event, with further chuckle-worthy contributions coming from Jay Neale and Tal Davies (pictured).
The Amphitheatre, Telford Town Park, Friday 14 August
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.
Theatre Severn, Shrewsbury, Thursday 10 September; The Alexandra, Birmingham, Tuesday 22 September; Royal Spa Centre, Leamington Spa, Friday 2 October; Regent Theatre, Stoke-on-Trent, Friday 23 October; Dudley Town Hall, Sunday 1 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.
The Alexandra, Birmingham, Sunday 20 September; Victoria Hall, Stoke-on-Trent, Thursday 15 October; Warwick Arts Centre, Coventry, Saturday 24 October; The Alexandra, Birmingham, Sunday 21 March
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.”
Lichfield Garrick, Saturday 12 September; 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
JASON MANFORD
Becoming successful in comedy is no walk in the park, as Jason Manford knows. And the former One Show presenter has some sage advice for wannabe comedians: “Don’t take any of my work!... I would also say to people, compare yourself to yourself. Don’t think, ‘Why has that guy got that?’ or ‘Why is Michael McIntyre doing so well?’ or ‘I’m really funny, so why is so-and-so doing that gig, not me?’ You know what, just don’t worry about it. If you’re doing better now than you were six months ago, then you’re doing well.”
Lichfield Garrick, Friday 4 September; Victoria Hall, Stoke-on-Trent, Wednesday 23 September
KANAN GILL
Everyday insight delivered with a global sensibility is how Kanan Gill’s official publicity describes his comedy - and it’s a style which has seen him score a significant hit with audiences across the world.
One of India’s most prominent stand-up comedians, the 36-year-old funnyman is visiting the West Midlands this month as part of his most ambitious international tour to date.
Symphony Hall, Thursday 10 September
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.
The Core Theatre, Solihull, Wednesday 23 September; Wulfrun Hall, Wolverhampton, Sunday 27 September; Warwick Arts Centre, Coventry, Friday 9 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.
Theatre Severn, Shrewsbury, Sat 26 September; Crewe Lyceum Theatre, Fri 2 October
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.
Stafford Gatehouse, Thursday 17 September; The Glee Club, Birmingham, Thursday 26 November
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.
Royal Spa Centre, Leamington Spa, Satuday 26 September; Lichfield Garrick, Saurday 24 October
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
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
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
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
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
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