Edinburgh may be half way through its epic Fringe Festival but when it comes to comedy, Brum can hold its head up high. The Birmingham Comedy Festival is one of the biggest multi-site festivals in the West Midlands and will be returning to the city this year from October 2-11, complete with an incredible line-up of comedic talent.
Since the festival first launched in 2001, it's attracted some of the biggest names in comedy, including Michael McIntyre, Lee Evans, Peter Kay, Jimmy Carr, Sarah Millican and many others. This year, the city wide event can boast an equally impressive programme, with a great collection of international, emerging and award winning performers.
The headline acts for this year include US musical comedy superstar 'Weird Al' Yankovic and Trevor Noah (who will be taking over from John Stewart on the influential political comedy programme, the 'Daily Show').
They will be joined by Irish comic Jason Byrne, German comedy ambassador Henning Wehn, TV troublemaker Lee Nelson, 'Charlie Brooker's Weekly Wipe' star Doug Stanhope and the unmistakable sensation that is Red Bastard.
If you like to discover fresh comedy, the festival will be officially opened by the Breaking Talent Award 2015. Like last year's sell-out event, a handpicked selection of emerging acts from across the West Midlands will be demonstrating why they've been chosen in the hopes of collecting the prestigious award.
While the festival has stand-up comedy at its core, there'll also be the opportunity to enjoy a range of theatre, visuals arts and film events too. For 2015, it includes the world premiere of theatre production 'Anita and Me', while Tangram Theatre will be performing their musical science comedy 'Albert Einstein: Relatively Speaking'
With around 100 comedians and performers, the festival will be taking place across a number of venues, including the Glee Club, mac birmingham, the Old Joint Stock Theatre, O2 Academy, Cherry Reds and more.
Doug Stanhope
Birmingham Comedy Festival. October 2-11. Various locations. For full listings and more information, take a look at the Birmingham Comedy Festival website or check out the Facebook page.
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