The most popular comedy shows in London

To be totally clear: Now You See Me Live is a stage-magic spectacular that has little to do with the Jesse Eisenberg-fronted film trilogy of the same name. That is to say, there’s no plot here and if the various participating magicians are using it as a front for fighting capitalism via the medium of high-concept heists, then they’re keeping quiet about it. Nonetheless, the producers of this Australia-originating international touring show have paid for the IP and it’s not a bad investment. After all, the films did in their own absurd way make magicians look cool. If there’s genuinely almost no allusion to the source material beyond a heist-themed mind reading trick at the start, then the grungy, black-wearing aesthetic and branding of the core performers – that’s Enzo Weyne, Andrew Basso, Gabriella Lester and Matthew Pomeroy – as ‘the Horsemen’ serves to give it a more focussed, less cheesy vibe than some of these multi-magician West End spectaculars.  In a way I don’t have a huge amount more to add, other than to note that while the individual names are subsumed by the concept, these are some top-class performers. At best, the magic on display here is jaw-dropping. I would say there are three tricks that are astonishing, none of which I should really spoil, plus there’s a tribute to Harry Houdini from Basso that is utterly nerve-wracking to look at but I think it’s probably fine to divulge that he doesn’t drown trying to pick the locks of his watery prison (or he didn’t...

You don’t have to venture all the way up to Edinburgh for a cracking dose of comedy in August. The Roundhouse has been hosting its comedy fest since 2023 and every year curates a line-up full of the biggest stars on the circuit. Across 18 days this year, you can expect gigs from the likes of Joe Lycett, Ed Gamble, Katherine Ryan, Sam Campbell, Ed Gamble, Sara Pascoe and Vittorio Angelone. Beyond the stand-ups, there’ll be live podcast recordings, theatrical comedy and interactive shows to watch too. Cult US comedy streaming platform Dropout will bring live editions of its hit shows Dirty Laundry, Um, Actually and Crowd Control, Jack Rooke (writer of Bad Boys) will present his first solo show and Adam Buxton and Alexei Sayle will host podcast recordings with special guests Ayoade Bamgboye of SNL UK and last year’s Edinburgh Comedy Award winner Sam Nicoresti. If you’re under 30, you can get your hands on tickets for just five quid. 

US comic Patti Harrison is clearly a big fan of London: the high priestess of bizarre, sometimes even nauseatingly out there comedy is a regular visitor and appears to be forgoing a full-length Edinburgh Fringe run in favour of spending the first half of the festival in London. Which is great news for us! We wouldn’t even begin to hazard what Just Ironing Some Things Out is about and the official description – ‘a new HORRIBLE comedy show that will probably give you “DIARHEOAHA of THE MIND”’ – is as unhelpful as is fundamentally accurate. But expect it to be a mix of insane shit and insane shit involving guests and you’re probbaly halfway there.

Sir Lenny Henry has long since transcended being a ‘mere’ comedian – if he ever really was – with a career that has long leant more towards the stage, kids’ books and general elder statesman-ing. He’s still got it, though: aged 67 he heads out on his first stand-up tour in over a decade with Still at Large. His first since 2010, it’s billed as ‘part stand-up, part storytelling and part conversation’.

Neon Nights is the gorgeous Soho Theatre Walthamstow’s monthly showcase spectactular and typiclaly features a big name headliner with stars ion various degrees of rising in support. The August 2026 edition is a ‘summer special’ and features a raft of top notch comics who aren”t heading up to the Fringe, which features the mighty Fern Brady headling over a fine bill of Daniel Foxx, Janine Harouni, Thor Stenhaug, David Alfie Ward and emcee Sikisa.  

Thanks to the ongoing cult behemoth that is Taskmaster, its host Greg Davies finds his stand up career hitting new highs, with a month of shows at the Apollo for his new show Full Fat Legend to be followed in December with his debut at the O2 – his biggest show to date. Despite the immodest name, the new show is, in essence, an autobiographical exploration of what an idiot he is. 

15 acts compete in this heat of the 2013 Laughing Horse New Act of the Year competition, plus MC Lewis Bryan.