The best of the week's live comedy

The best of the week's live comedy, picked from the thousands of events Chortle currently has listed. Use our search panel to check our full listings by date and region.

Sunday July 27

HARTLEPOOL: You'll be lucky to get tickets this late but Russell Howard headlines the seafront Laughing Stock Comedy Festival on Seaton Reach, with other performances from an impressive roster including Adam Rowe, Ninia Benjamin, Emmanuel Sonubi, Matt Reed, Gary Delaney, Andrew Bird, and Raymond & Mr Timpkins Revue.

Monday July 28

LONDON: Very peculiar alternative comedian Patti Harrison is back at Soho Theatre to host a variety show over the next two weeks, en route to the Edinburgh Fringe. Who knows what to expect? Though the show does promise 'very special friends, beautiful guests, upsetting surprises, and sexual revelations'.

LONDON: First started in 2006, the Camden Fringe is back with more than 400 shows across 40 venues, some of them beyond the borough's boundaries, and covering all genres – including plenty of comedy. Check out the website for full listings.

SHEFFIELD: Jon Richardson and friends are raising money for the Sheffield Children's Hospital Charity at the City Hall tonight. Said mates include Russell Howard again, plus Dinesh Nathan, Harriet Dyer and Louise Young. Tickets.

Wednesday July 30

EDINBURGH: The first previews start for the Edinburgh Fringe (except for a few at the Monkey Barrel, which started a couple of days ago by the utterly cheating strategy of being a permanent Edinburgh venue). We might just mention the festival again in the coming days… but you can check out our Edinburgh Fringe listings here.

Thursday July 31

LONDON: Australian comedian Nazeem Hussain begins a three-night run at Leicester Square Theatre with his latest show You Paid For This, with cross-cultural material and stories of dealing with racist trolls online.

Friday August 1

LONDON: Reggie Watts, as seen leading James Corden's band on The Late Late Show and threatening Alex Horne's meagre authority on The Horne Section TV brings his trippy mix of musical comedy improvisation to Soho Theatre Walthamstow tonight and tomorrow.

LONDON: Every Brilliant Thing, Duncan Macmillan's touching and funny play Jonny & The Baptists comic Jonny Donahoe first performed at the Edinburgh Fringe in 2014, to great acclaim, gets a West End transfer – and some star firepower. As well as Donahoe himself, the rotating cast at @sohoplace includes Lenny Henry, Sue Perkins, Minnie Driver and This is Going to Hurt’s Ambika Mod. The show is based on a seven-year-old child making a list of all the things worth living for following his mother’s suicide attempt – a catalogue of delights that grows over the years and into adulthood. It runs until November 8.

Saturday August 2

LONDON: As a founding member of the collective AIB (All India Bakchod), which emerged out of Vir Das's comedy nights, Rohan Joshi, was one of the trailblazers of the Indian comedy scene in India. The group – originally known for the woke sensibilities in its work – was wound up in 2019 amid a scandal, which did not involve Joshi. A popular YouTuber and comic, he makes his Soho Theatre debut all this week with his show Getting There (But Not Quite).

Published: 27 Jul 2025