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.

From a reprise for Adam Riches and John Kearns’s batshit tribute to Michael Ball and Alfie Boe to the return of a slew of Gen X US comedy legends, it’s another side-splitting month on the London stage. 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.

This review is from the 2024 Edinburgh Festival Fringe. Clown princess Natalie Palamides first came to Fringe attention with ‘Laid’, in which she memorably committed to the bit of playing a woman who laid an egg every day, followed by 2018’s landmark ‘Nate’. A hysterically funny but weirdly poignant hour, in it the (topless but with chest hair drawn on) Palamides played the eponymous mess of a man, a pitiable dumpster fire of confused sexuality and toxic masculinity with audience interactions to die for. Picked up by Netflix for a special, it turned her into a hipster global name. Now finally here comes ‘Weer’. A natural evolution from ‘Nate’, its core concept is that Palamides plays both halves of a fractious young couple – Mark and Christina – at the same time, with her outfits and wigs divided asymmetrically down the middle (Mark on the right, Christina on the left) and her flipping from side to side depending on who’s speaking. Add to that, it’s a parody of ‘90s rom coms: it’s set in 1996 and 1999 and the pair are a Gen X couple who meet cute in the most ’90s way possible (I think also Palamides simply wanted to have the opportunity to have Mark repeatedly say ‘it’s Y2Kaaaaay’ in a stoner voice).  It is another virtuoso piece of batshittery from Palamides: on a technical level some of the stuff she’s doing is truly remarkable, especially when she’s mostly playing one character but being the arm of the other. It’s like that thing where you pretend to make out with...

Noughties provocateur Sarah Silverman hasn’t played a UK show since 2013, preferring to focus her career in her home country the US. Is she still the same outrageous woman we last saw back in the day? Probably, yeah, although now in her mid-fifties new show Postmortem is billed as a cathartic affair exploring loss and grief (albeit amusingly).

Leftfield comics Riches and Kearns both are and aren’t keeping their cards close to their chests for this oddball seasonal extravganza. On the one hand we know exactly what it’s about: the duo will play Michael Ball and Alfie Boe, the actor-singers who are superstars in their own right and have done serious business as a double act. On the other hand they’re being deliberately opaque about what they actually have planned, even down to who is playing who. Neither Riches nor Kearns are noted for their singing voices; they are renowned for extreme commitment to the bit, no matter how absurd – in Riches’ case it borders on method. Whatever the hell happens, you’re unlikely to forget it in a hurry.

Star of The Big Sick and Eternals, US Pakistani comic Nanjiani gets back to his stand up roots with the fairly literally titled Doing This Again, his first live tour in a decade. There is no word on what his new set involves, but there is undoubedly a lot to talk about – the last time he performed live he was basically a quirky cult actor; as he returns, he’s a star.

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.

Virtuoso ventriloquist comic Conti mounts a weeklong West End engagement with her latest show in which she puts her trademark mouth mast on hapless audience members for what is described as ‘an unparalleled, unscripted new show that delves deep into who we are, hijacking faces to spark a bold, hysterical reality warp’. Indeed!

Gen X comedy legend David Cross is inevitably better known in the UK for his screen work – notably Mr Show and Arrested Development – than as a stand up, but he’s a gifted and bombastic showman satirst, if a little crass by British standards. This show has been downgraded from the Forum, but if you can swallow the £60 ticket price and you enjoy hearty but unsubtle liberal laughs, he’s your man. 

A great pub in Angel that has a charming beer garden out front and an events space upstairs, where Angel Comedy calls home (as well as The Bill Murray down the road). There are excellent comedy line-ups here every night and they're always free.