The most popular comedy shows in London

Fancy yourself a bit of a comedian? Ever wanted to go on a game show? Now is your chance. The Audience Vs is a brand-new live comedy gaming show, where audience members go head to head with real-life celebs. Hosted by Glenn Moore, created by journalist Simon Parkin and produced by Taskmaster honchos Avalon, the game will see punters battle comedians in retro video games, including Mario Kart, Street Fighter and Grand Theft Auto. Previous guests include Phil Wang, Sarah Keyworth, Ellie Gibson, and Sooz Kempner, with upcoming guests including Frankie Ward, Iain Stirling, Jamali Maddix and John Robertson. 

You’ll have a job getting into any of James Acaster’s bewildering multitude of London solo shows this March, although if you’re a fan of the subversive comedy superstar – and who isn’t – then by all means sign up for a waiting list, and it looks like his Hackney Empire shows (technically in April) aren’t entirely sold out at time of writing. These dates are, apparently, a basically finished new show, just it doesn’t have a name, with the only description the delightfully flip ‘a brand new show, full of everything you love about James Acaster and more!’. But you can also catch him at the head of a frankly sensational bill at a charity gig for The Bike Project earlier in the month at the Union Chapel. At time of writing it’s not sold out and as well as Acaster you get Sophie Duker, Janine Harouni, Catherine Bohart, Olga Koch and Jack Barry on the bill.

This fundraiser for the Sophie Hayes Foundation – which helps female survivors of modern slavery – has a superb bill consiting of Sikisa, Lou Sanders, Harriet Kemsley, Sara Pascoe, Joe Wilkinson, Paul Foot and Katherine Ryan.

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. 

It seems pretty apparent by now that a second season of Matthew Holness’s sublimely preposterous haunted hospital soap opera Garth Marenghi’s Darkplace is not going to be forthcoming. However, Holness’s monumentally self-important, subtext-loathing horror author Marenghi lives on and he’s got a new book out: This Bursted Earth, a trio of monumentally overripe tales of dread. And he’s got an in character book tour, which is about as close as you’re going to get to Darkplace in this day and age and is arguably a more fun way to consume Holness’ contemporary work than actually reading an entire book of deliberately bad horror.

It’s easy to forget that a very, very long time ago Sue Perkins was just a straight up stand-up comic with a nice sideline in writing gags for French and Saunders with her pal Mel Giedroyc. A lot has happened since then, with the essential outcome that Perkins is a very successful TV presenter now, but she does periodically get back in touch with her roots and she makes a pretty damn credible return to the London stage via two nights at the might Soho Theatre Walthamstow.

Nigerian standup Bamgboye took the best newcomer award at the 2025 Edinburgh Festival Fringe with her debut show Swings and Roundabouts which charted her move to the UK in her twenties, and showcased her often disorientating mastery of accents. Critics praised her confidence, poise and original, outsider-ish eye on British culture and it bagged her a place in the starting line up for Saturday Night Live UK, with this latest Soho Theatre run meaning she is possibly the first member of the line-up to return to liver perfomance (it’s also not 100% clear if the Saturday night show will actually happen, given the live sketch show has extended beyond its original run and is due to be on that night).

For 43 years, Banana Cabaret has been a much-loved fixture on London's comedy circuit. Hosted by Balham pub The Bedford, it's nurtured talents including Lee Mack and Sara Pascoe, and has been central to the birth of the UK's alternative comedy movement. Now, its producer Dave Vickers is ready to retire, and he's throwing one last big bash to celebrate. Banana Cabaret's farewell festival goes on throughout May, with a packed line-up of big comedy names, including Al Murray doing his touring show 'All You Need Is Guv', and mixed bills with the likes of Zoe Lyons, Milton Jones, Luisa Omelan, and many more. Until then, Best of Banana Cabaret shows will run every weekend in March and April, with special guest appearances including Tim Vine and Harry Hill.

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