New Year’s Eve comedy in London

Whether you’ve been a fan since the days of That Peter Kay Thing or you’ve recently discovered his sketches on TikTok, the chances are you’re familiar with Peter Kay, one of the UK’s most beloved comedians. And that’s shown by the sheer number of gigs he’s playing this year – in fact, Kay is the first ever artist to perform a monthly residency at Greenwich’s massive O2 Arena. A heck of a lot of Londoners are going to get to see Peter Kay live over the next 12 months, and those gigs continue this weekend. This Saturday (January 6), Kay takes to the O2 as part of his first tour in 12 years. Here’s everything you need to know about the show – and all the ones after that. RECOMMENDED: How to get tickets for Peter Kay’s 2023 tour  When is Peter Kay at London’s O2 Arena? Peter Kay’s next show at the O2 is on Saturday, January 6 2024. After that, he’ll play loads more dates. Here are those in full: February 24, 2024 March 23, 2024 April 20, 2024 May 4, 2024 June 2, 2024 July 13, 2024 August 10, 2024 September 7, 2024 October 8, 2024 November 16, 2024 December 5. 2024 January 25, 2025 February 22, 2025 March 20, 2025 April 4, 2025 What time will he come on stage? Kay is set to take to the stage at 8pm. What time do doors open at the London O2? Doors will open at 6:30pm and it should end by the O2’s curfew, which is 11pm.  Are there any tickets left? According to ticketing platform AXS, there are still some tickets left for the January 6 show. How much are tickets?  You can nab

From wild new show from US comic Patti Harrison to returns from Brit veterans Romesh Ranganathan, it's another busy old month for comedy in London. Here’s our pick of the month’s major gigs. The best comedy clubs in London. The best new theatre shows to book for in London.

London has the biggest and best comedy scene in the world, so if you love a good laugh (or a good heckle) you're in the right place. From tiny basements and rooms above pubs to boats to huge venues, there’s comedy in the capital for comedians (and audiences) of all shapes and sizes. But not all spaces are created equal. Avoid getting sucked into a rip-off joint with a vibe that's deader than Monty Python's notorious parrot with our list of London’s liveliest and best comedy nights and clubs. From try-out nights at pocket money prices to massive gigs from names off the telly, here's where to look for your next comedy night out. RECOMMENDED: Here are the very best cinemas in London.

This review is from the 2023 Edinburgh Festival Fringe. ‘Actually, Good’ took home the top award at this year’s Melbourne International Comedy Festival, so the stakes were already high enough for Gillian Cosgriff’s ruthlessly cheery interactive hour. The show is also all about finding happiness in the mundane – which is a hard enough mission at the best of times. The Aussie performer structures her performance around a game she vox-pops to the (very willing) audience, where you’re asked to come up with a ranking of ten things you ‘like’, before she writes them down in her ‘Book of Good’. Often, these will be as simple as ‘wearing a wireless bra’ or ‘getting a USB in the socket for the first time’ – or, in Cosgriff’s case, ‘bus drivers waving at each other’.  Cosgriff’s manic nods of approval at people’s ‘likes’ occasionally feel disingenuous, especially when it came to some of the more bland responses. But, overall, the optimism is endearing. The real humour came in with her various flashback stories and musical numbers she weaved throughout the game with a zesty flair and considerable pace. (A hilarious longer sketch of an unfortunate phone meeting with a councillor is especially good). There is also a darker undercurrent, which functions to counter the stickier sweet shell and remind us that with good, there is always bad, and with life, there is always death (yes, she is really blunt).  Her game could have quickly become tired or cringe – or risk sounding like a particular

Possibly stung by reviews that noted her 2022 debut Fringe show was unusual for not having a title, US comic Patti Harrison has really gone for it with this year’s name. That last show was wilfully confrontational, seemingly deliberately wildly overlength, and gave the air of being brilliant whenever she wanted it to be brilliant. The odds of this literally being about her boobs seems fairly low – expect pure chaos. Addendum: we saw the show at the 2023 Fringe and while we weren't actually allowed to write about it – it was a work in progress – we can confirm it was a thing of twisted brilliance after which you’ll never look at the cartoon mouse Stuart Little the same again.

As the unofficial comedy capital of the world, London's comedy circuit doesn't take a break. There are stand-up shows seven days a week, from early evening through to the small hours. To help you plan your week of witticisms, here's a nifty calendar of regular comedy shows in London.

The hugely successful, perennial cool comic follows up his West End run at the start of the year with a couple of dates at the prestigious Southbank Centre for his new live stand-up show in which he attempts to grapple with the fact that he recently concluded that he doesn’t like performing live stand-up shows. In ‘Hecklers Welcome’ Acaster talks through his phobia of performance, and as the title suggests, he promises he’ll give any heckler a fair hearing.

The grumpy everyman moves into the big leagues with a brace of almost sold-out dates at The O2 with his new show ‘Hustle’, which is, in essence, a consideration of whether there’s any point in being good in this life. Early reviews suggest the deal is essentially Ranganathan squaring up to middle-age in relatively predictable fashion, but it is by all accounts and agreeable evening of stand-up.

You used to be able to set you clock by the the advent of a new Richard Herring live show: there would be one per year, every year, and he would take it to the Edinburgh Fringe. Now, though, it’s been a walloping six years since Herring has created one of his pedantic, surreal, invariably high concept offerings – in large part because after spending decades in the shadow of his former comedy partner Stewart Lee, he’s finally found something like mainsteam success with his Live from Leicester Square Theatre podcast series.  Now he returns to frontline service with a show about his 2021 brush with testicular cancer, which resulted in the removal of a the titular ball. 

Diaries at the ready: it's time to start planning your comedy year. Many of the biggest comedy tours of 2020 are coming to a London venue this year, and we've put them all into this handy planner. There's every variety of stand-up comedian in London. Check out the full list below of notable comedians on tour making their way to London in the coming months.