November is a big, busy month for live comedy, the apex of the autumn touring season. This year’s gig roster is also conspicuously indicative of the mid-season break for SNL UK season two: Paddy Young, Larry Dean and show writer Bella Hull are all finally bringing their acclaimed Edinburgh Festival Fringe shows to London, and newcomer Freddie Meredith finally gets to complete his Soho Theatre run. There’s plenty of other stuff to see besides, from Frankie Thompson’s brilliant Edinburgh Fringe hit Horrible Things to latest shows from Nish Kumar and Bill Bailey.
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.
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What it is? Avant-clown comic Frankie Thompson follows up her hits Catts and Body Show with splendid a new show in which she moves away from the lipsyncing of her earlier work and demonstrates a strong, deeply weird comedy voice all of her own.
Where is it? Soho Theatre.
What is it? The relative downgrade in the wellbeing of Western civilzation is liable to be bad for Nish Kumar’s mental health – the political comic gives the impression of taking every one of Trump’s depravities personally – but good for his audience: his mill is overflowing with grist. Expect darkly amusing dissection of the news, delivered by a man who gives every impression of being on the cusp of either a panic attack or combusting from fury or possibly both.
Where is it? Shepherd’s Bush Empire.
What is it? Paddy Young is annoyingly handsome and has one of the best gigs in British comedy, being the co-anchor of SNL UK’s Weekend Update. So you’d think a stand-up show bemoaning that he’s a permanently single loser might not entirely convince. But not a bit of it: Will Sir Be Laughing Alone? verges on the kamikaze in its outrageousness at times.
Where is it? Soho Theatre Walthamstow.
What is it? Gloriously acerbic young stand-up Hull is the highest-profile member of the SNL UK team to not officially be in the cast: she’s a writer who often pops up in sketches, and she’s also does the voiceover introducing the cast. She’s also incredibly funny as her mercilessly sardonic Edinburgh Fringe hit Mad Cow Disease demonstrates.
Where is it? Soho Theatre.
What is it? Larry Dean is the workhorse of Saturday Night Live UK: the Glaswegian comic is a low key but chameleonic presence, his astonishing command of accents making him an invaluable supporting player. And this latest solo show is elevated by his incredible accent work, even if his attempts at soul-baring come across a bit glossily.
Where is it? Soho Theatre Walthamstow.
Eccentric uncle of British comedy Bill Bailey returns with a new set of comedy songs and ramblings that are indeed – if the description is accurate anyway – rooted in his fascination with the Vaudeville era, the last great form of mass entertainment before the arrival of the screen.
What is it? This atmosphere-heavy, nostalgia-suffused second show from Singapore-raised comic Hao deliberately intercuts the mythic and the mundane – the arty stuff and the gags – as it details his longing for home as his moves to unfamiliar London. It’s certainlty quite a different style of comedy but it is funny as well as the more out there stuff, and it bagged Hao an unexpected but not unwelcome place of the Edinburgh Comedy Award shortlist this Fringe.
Where is it? Soho Theatre.
What is it? One of the buzziest late night shows of this year’s Edinburgh Festival Fringe, Soul Sewage is Sam Eley’s debut hour as Basil Crumbwick – a horny, embittered old man with a papier maché head. Both uncomfortable and hilarious, it’s recreating some of that Fringe magic by being staged about as late as Soho Theatre goes, or at least it is for its initial October run. That’s now sold out, but Eley (and Basil) will be back for another crack at it in January 2027.
Where is it? Soho Theatre.
What is it? Nominated for Best Newcomer at this year’s Edinburgh Fringe Comedy Awards, Freddie Meredith’s Need a Light? is a by all accounts delightful hour of sketch comedy in which Meredith plays a nerdy, wannabe hip loser who spends 60 endearing minutes trying to start conversations with randoms in the smoking area of a club. The show was indeed so successful that Meredith was snapped up by SNL UK shortly after the Fringe, which has necessitated the rescheduling of his Soho run.
Where is it? Soho Theatre.
What is it? The Brit comedy superstar grapples with fame and fortune in his latest show, which kicks off in London in the autumn at the Apollo, heads across the country and throughout Europe, then call in at The O2 for a pre-Christmas victory lap.
Where is it? Eventim Apollo (September) and The O2 (December).
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