The 10 best comedy shows and stand-up tours to book tickets for in 2024
Bill O’Neill: The Amazing Banana Brothers
Hard-drinkin’, bull-whip-crackin’, banana-peel-slippin’ American circus star Kevin Calamity and his anxious sidekick Joey are “The Amazing Banana Brothers”. With some quick costume changes, US comedian O’Neill plays both of them, in this wickedly clever, wildly unhinged hour.
Soho Theatre, London W1 (sohotheatre.com), Jan 3-13
Ania Magliano: I Can’t Believe You’ve Done This
This young stand-up balances straightforward observational bellylaughs with subtler themes, in a show that starts out claiming to be a story about a bad haircut, before slowly revealing itself as something else entirely.
The Black Box, Belfast (aniamagliano.com), Jan 9, then touring
Miles Jupp: On I Bang
One sunny day, affable former News Quiz Jupp suddenly suffered a seizure - and later learnt he had a brain tumour “the size of a cherry tomato”. What happened next forms the heart of On I Bang, his first touring show in seven years.
Epsom Playhouse (milesjupp.co.uk), Jan 11 and touring
Rhod Gilbert and the Giant Grapefruit
Now (thankfully) given the all-clear two years after his cancer diagnosis, the perennially furious Welshman sets off on a hundred-date tour with a new show about “turning life’s giant grapefruits into something approaching lemonade”.
The Courtyard, Hereford (rhodgilbertcomedian.com), Jan 11-12 and touring
Daniel Sloss: Can’t
The lone male comic to speak on the record about Russell Brand for Channel 4’s Dispatches, Sloss has always been a fearless, frank voice in comedy. The UK leg of this world tour kicks off on home turf in Fife (where he grew up).
Adam Smith Theatre, Kirkcaldy (danielsloss.com), Jan 27, then touring
Julia Masli: ha ha ha ha ha ha ha
The underground hit of 2023’s Edinburgh Fringe, this improvised, audience-interaction-led show sees a hilarious Estonian clown solve the whole crowd’s problems, one volunteer at a time.
Soho Theatre, London W1 (sohotheatre.com), Jan 30-Feb 17
Bill Bailey: Thoughtifier
The whimsical wizard of multi-instrumental comedy is back on the road with more of his hilarious musical noodlings and beard-stroking stand-up.
3 Arena, Dublin (billbailey.co.uk), Feb 9, then touring
Ahir Shah: Ends
Shah uses the story of his family’s arrival from India in the 1960s as a microcosm for multicultural Britain, in an award-winning, star-making, tear-jerking hour.
Soho Theatre, London W1 (sohotheatre.com), Jan 22-27
Leigh Francis: My First Time
The Bo Selecta and Celebrity Juice star steps out from behind his Keith Lemon persona for his first ever stand-up tour as himself.
Regent Theatre, Stoke on Trent (tix.to/LeighFrancis24), March 1, then touring
Ria Lina: Riawakening
There surely aren’t many comedians who can boast of a BSc in Experimental Pathology, an MSc in Forensic Science and a PhD in Virology. A Radio 4 favourite, scientist-turned-stand-up Ria Lina promises factually accurate Covid gags on the second leg of her first UK tour.
Theatr Clwyd, Mold (rialina.com), Feb 27, then touring