New Year’s Eve comedy 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. Whether you're up for try-out nights at pocket money prices or 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.

December means Christmas and Christmas means a host of bizarre and delightful one off, high concept comedy shows, ranging from comedians singing carols for a good cause, to Adam Riches pretending to be Sean Bean for inscrutable reasons of his own. We’ve gathered some of our favouite whimsical season one-offs as this month’s picks. There are far, far too many one-off, multi-performer comedy nights in London for us to compile a single coherent page with our favouites on, which is entirely to London’s credit. So do check individual bills of comedy clubs online for that sort of thing. But if you’re looking for an individual comedian with a full headline show then this page is here to compile the Time Out editorial team’s top choices, often with our reviews from the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. The best comedy clubs in London.The best new theatre shows to book for in London.

It’s my first visit to London’s newest theatre, and the press officer says she wants to hang about for a bit: ‘just until I see the look on your face when you see the auditorium for the first time’.  I immediately start worrying that I’ll offend everyone by not looking impressed enough, but it’s all good: my jaw duly thuds to the floor when I step into the main house of Soho Theatre Walthamstow.  The ‘original’ Soho Theatre on Dean Street in central London is a truly wonderful comedy, cabaret and theatre venue, but the building is not what you’d call architecturally noteworthy. Soho Theatre Walthamstow is a different matter entirely.  Photo: David Levene It has a long and complicated history, but the short version is that it opened in 1930 as The Granada, a 2,700-seat cinema on busy Hoe Street. It eventually fell into disrepair. Now it’s been born again as a 1,000-seat comedy and theatre venue. And it looks incredible. While the exterior has been given a clean, white, unobtrusive paint job that brings it somewhat in line with the Dean Street venue, the inside is like stepping back in time – a ravishing art deco masterpiece so instantly iconic that I feel a twinge of frustration that it’s just been sitting here unused for decades.  The slide into dereliction The original Granada cinema was a special place: built by prolific London theatre architect Cecil Masey and with interiors by the great stage designer Theodore Komisarjevsky, it was beloved by noted Leytonstone...

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.

What is it? Angel Comedy has a cosy home at The Camden Head, the classic pub in Angel   with a charming beer garden out front and a dedicated events space upstairs. This venue (along with the iconice The Bill Murray down the road) hosts the collective’s comedy nights, showcasing everything from seasoned acts trying out new material to emerging comics giving it their all. Why go? If you like comedy, this night is an absolute bargain. And even if you don't, well you're losing nothing by just going along (the nights are completely free!) If you’re after top-notch laughs in a relaxed, friendly setting, this is the place to be. The line-ups change nightly, guaranteeing fresh materials and lots of surprises. Don’t miss: Obviously, order a drink to take into the show.  When to visit: Shows run most nights. Check the Angel Comedy website for exact times and line-ups. Ticket info: All shows are free, making it one of London’s best-value comedy nights. But once it's full it's  full! Time Out tip: Arrive early to grab a spot in the beer garden or a front-row seat upstairs.

Alfie Brown gets accused of being overconfident. ‘Obviously!’ he shouts. He’s a comedian, charging people to hear him speak – of course he’s overconfident. But while he shares that trait with every other comic, it’s Brown’s courageousness that sets him apart. It takes guts to tackle the subjects he takes on. Mental illness, paedophilia, slave labour, the word ‘nigger’ – the 27-year-old stand-up isn’t one to shy away from contentious topics, even when they occasionally make for tough listening. But Brown’s not in the market for easy, shock laughs; there’s depth and intelligence to his material. Stick with him and there’s always a satisfying punchline or smart viewpoint at the end of the path, even if the journey itself looks painful. Other comics might touch lightly on the subject of paedophilia to crowbar in a quick Jimmy Savile joke. But Brown digs deeper, presenting a debate about the age of consent, and there’s not a Yewtree mention in sight. The hard-hitting comic forces us to question his, and our own, morals and he isn’t afraid to lose half the audience in the process. He’d rather not, of course – ‘I need you to like me!’ he says – but Brown has bombed enough times to brush it off when it happens. You can see the constant battle going on in his mind. The London-born comic desperately craves laughter, and could easily write breezy routines you’d find on ‘Live at the Apollo’. But his personal pride and distain for boring comedy won’t allow him go down that route, and...

‘My main goal of the show, and my life, is to clear the name of Yoko Ono,’ says James Acaster, matter-of-factly, at the top of his show. Quite how we get there via examining his love of mariachi music, or the identities of Percy Pig’s mates, we’re not sure. But it all seems to make sense, at the time. Honest. Three solo shows in, and Acaster’s quickly becoming a reliable Fringe favourite. The Kettering-born comic is quiet, pedantic and refreshingly low-key. He's in no rush to get laughs, his shows are slow-burners, but every carefully chosen word or pause builds up to a sturdy, satisfying punchline. From Twister-etiquette to French rhyme structures, the Marks and Spencer-donning comic has a knack for flipping observational comedy on its head, studiously examining things most of us have dismissed as inconsequential. His confident, yet gawky, persona is wonderfully aloof, too. But what Acaster has mastered, which most comics fail at, is structuring an hour-long show. Seemingly throwaway jokes cleverly re-emerge, and no callbacks are crowbarred in. By the end of the hour you’re totally sucked into his minute, quizzical world, where Yoko Ono is addicted to biscuits, and Joe Bloggs is a prat. And it’s a wonderful world to visit. See 'James Acaster – Lawnmower' at the Edinburgh Fringe

Maybe it’s his law school training, but relative newcomer Ronny Chieng is already a consummate professional. The 27-year-old comic is blunt, full of bravado and not aiming to be liked; he’s got a job to do, and he’s putting forward a strong case. Born in Malaysia, based in Australia and raised in Singapore via the US, Chieng has a blurred sense of national identity. ‘I belong nowhere,’ he says, explaining that Westerners just see his Chinese roots, and back home he’s considered ‘the whitest guy in Malaysia’. But Chieng feels passionately about his heritage and aims to change the opinion that Chinese people aren’t cool. ‘Cool’ isn’t exactly how you’d describe Chieng; he’s a permanently pissed-off germaphobe. But he smartly attacks Chinese stereotypes while mockingly reinforcing them, and just when you think he’s slipping into cliché, he’ll flip the joke on its head and find a fresh, sharp punchline. Not that race is the only subject Chieng’s an expert on. He’s a master BitTorrent user, a penis-hygiene specialist and regular IT support for his mum. We’ve all heard young comics mock their parents’ inability to grasp technology, but Chieng’s extended routine about providing tech help over the phone wins through his outward frustration. It’s this honest indifference to being liked that makes Chieng stand out. Refreshingly, he’s neither charmless nor charming. All that matters is there’s sharp comedic mind at work here – why should we need anything more? See 'Ronny Chieng – The...

This is an archived page. The poet savant reveals his ten favourite comics – with video evidence Tim Key - © Rob Greig Following two sell-out Edinburgh Fringe runs and five-weeks at the Soho Theatre, our favourite shambolic poet Tim Key is bringing his stunning show 'Masterslut' to the West End. To celebrate him lugging a bath back to London, we asked the 'Mid Morning Matters' star for a list of his ten favourite (living) stand-ups, and here's what he came back with. 'These are in no particular order,' he explains. 'I always find ranking things tough, but I suspect that Gittins would probably come in around eighth.' What do you think of Key's choices? Are you on the same wavelength? Tell us what you think in the comments section below. Simon Amstell 'Amstell's the real deal. He talks engagingly, honestly and wittily about his life for an hour and then waddles back off to work on his highly successful sitcom or hair. Brilliant.' ...