Laughterhouse hit by low audiences and increased competition

Liverpool’s longest-running comedy club, Laughterhouse, is shutting up shop after almost 20 years.

A message sent to comedians blamed ‘consistently low attendances and increasing competition from other venues’ – adding that ‘continuing is no longer sustainable.’

The venue has long been in the shadow of Hot Water Comedy Club, which has leveraged social media to expand from gigs in hotel function rooms to operating its own site with multiple spaces – the largest seating 589 – which opened in 2024.

Laughterhouse will stage its last night on Saturday March 28, and has cancelled all comedians booked after that date.

The email acknowledged it was ‘difficult news’ telling the comedians: ‘We want to extend a huge thank you to every one of you who has performed with us over the years. Your talent, energy, and generosity on stage helped make Laughterhouse what it was. 

‘The nights we created together — and the laughter you brought to our audiences — are something we will always be grateful for.

‘It has been a real privilege to work with so many brilliant comedians, and we truly appreciate the time and effort you put into making each show special.’

Laughterhouse was set up in 2007 as Liverpool prepared to take on the mantle of European Capital of Culture. It operated from a custom-built 136-seat room beneath the historic Slaughter House in Fenwick Street, said to be the city’s most haunted pub.

The promoters behind the venue also ran big gigs at the Liverpool Philharmonic Hall and at one time ran other nights in the city and elsewhere in the UK.

Ormskirk-based agent Adam Ruston posted on Facebook: ‘Sad to see Laughterhouse in Liverpool is shutting its doors. A great venue that was the foundations of the Liverpool comedy scene.’

Comics also expressed their regret at the closure. Paul Tonkinson wrote: ‘It was fab. Real shame’; Mitch Benn added: ‘That sucks. Nice gig’; Brendan Dempsey called it a ‘cracking room’ and Andre Vincent said: ‘That’s gutting!’

Two years ago, several comedians called out the club for leaving them unpaid for months. At the time, Paula Harrington, who runs the club with her husband, the stand-up Chris Cairns, vowed to sort out the issues and comedians have subsequently been paid in cash on the night of their performance. 

Chortle has approached Harrington for comment on the club’s closure.

Her company, Laughterhouse On The Road Ltd, has not filed accounts since February 2021 and has been subject to several notices to be compulsorily struck off from the Companies House register, all of which were successfully challenged. 

Cairns and Harrington had run two previous companies Laughterhouse Comedy, which was put into compulsory liquidation in 2018, and The Laughterhouse Limited, which was struck off the register in the same year.

Laughterhouse became the oldest comedy club in Liverpool when Comedy Central closed its venue at Royal Albert Dock in 2019, after 13 years, citing the difficulties of running ‘a high-quality comedy club at a premium location, during a sustained period of turbulent local and nationwide economic uncertainty’.

Published: 10 Mar 2026