Birmingham Comedy Festival is back: line up & venues info here

The long-running multi-award-winning  Birmingham Comedy Festival is back for a showstopping, fun loving, hilarious 10 days

The mirth-filled line-up includes stand-up comedy, improv, theatre, podcasts, magic, and more  - from Friday 7 to Sunday 16 October 2022. An amazing 17,000 people attended the festival last year, and this year is even bigger with more than 70 performances across the 10 day event.

Highlights include appearances from:

Britain’s Got Talent 2022 winner Axel Blake (Oct 16, Alexandra Theatre),

The West End production of hit musical Sister Act (Oct 4-15, Birmingham Hippodrome), and

Austentatious (Oct 8-9, The Old Rep), the improvised play inspired by the works of Jane Austen, and starring some of the UK’s best improvisers.

Although Sister Acts at the Hippodrome gets out of the blocks early (opening Oct 4), it all officially starts on Friday 7 October with the Birmingham Comedy Festival Breaking Talent Award 2002 - the region’s biggest comedy prize, it recognises new and emerging talent from Birmingham and the West Midlands.

This is where you’ll find the next Joe Lycett (there is only one Joe - but you know what we mean). The festival then continues with FREE comedy on Sunday afternoons, Laurel and Hardy films in a prison, the region’s only LGBTQ+ comedy club, improv, Satan, Axel from BGT, a lost Jane Austen adventure, and loads more

Who else is performing?

Troy Hawke (Oct 12), Dan Nightingale (Oct 13-15), and Helen Bauer (Oct 12) all head to The Glee Club,

Birmingham Rep host Tartuffe (Oct 14-Nov 5), a contemporary update of Molière’s 17th century classic adapted by BAFTA and Emmy Award-winning writers Anil Gupta and Richard Pinto (The Office, Goodness Gracious Me, The Kumars at No.42, Citizen Khan), and directed by Iqbal Khan (Artistic Director of Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games Opening Ceremony).

Will the Birmingham Comedy Festival Breaking Talent Award take place this year?

Other highlights include:

The return of the Birmingham Comedy Festival Breaking Talent Award (Oct 7, The Glee Club) - the region’s most prestigious comedy prize,

There is also 2x Free Half-Dayers (Oct 9 and 16) featuring 16 acts over consecutive Sundays at two city-centre venues (Cherry Reds and The Victoria) - those appearing include rising star Celya AB, duo Good Kids, Andy Robinson, Mary Flanigan and Aaron Twitchen.

Who else is performing?

Other acts appearing across the festival include:

‘German comedy ambassador’ Henning Wehn (Oct 7-8, Birmingham Town Hall),

Brum improv group Jumprov! (Oct 8, Birmingham Hippodrome),

Podcasters A Gay And A Nongay (Oct 8, Mockingbird Cinema)

GingerBeardMark (Oct 16, Mockingbird Cinema), and

Simon Munnery (Oct 13, The Irish Centre),

Kamikaze Club bring a dozen shows to 1000 Trades, including Danny Clives, Tom Mayhew, Alex Hylton and Eric Rushton.

And for fans of classic film comedy, there’s a special themed Laurel and Hardy screening at West Midlands Police Museum (Oct 14) too.

What has Birmingham Comedy Festival said about the 2022 event in their own words?

A spokesperson for the festival said: "After our hugely successful yet slightly scaled back festival last year, 2022 sees us back to full strength with a fantastic fest’ that features loads of great shows.

"There’s some big names, but the festival also continues to spotlight some of the very best talent coming out of the city and the West Mids. We’re also hosting more free/ pay what you want shows this year than ever before."

A bit more about the Birmingham Comedy Festival

Established in 2001, Birmingham Comedy Festival is the UK’s second longest-running comedy festival, and is one of the largest independent unfunded arts festivals in the West Midlands.

Birmingham Comedy Festival runs from Friday 7 to Sunday 16 October 2022. For more information, see: www.bhamcomfest.co.uk

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