Tickets Launching soon - stay tuned
We’re excited to announce our full lineup of comedy talent coming to Hay-on-Wye. This year’s festival will feature razor-sharp wit and side-splitting performances from some of the brightest stars in comedy, including Mock The Week favourite Rhys James, the brilliantly offbeat Janine Harouni, and the effortlessly hilarious Jessica Fostekew.
Now's the time to secure your place for a festival packed with laughter, ideas, and unforgettable experiences.
A brand new work-in-progress stand-up hour from professional ‘little brother’ Rhys James. Possibly seen on QI (BBC), Apollo (BBC) and Mock (RIP), but more importantly these days, TikTok and Instagram. Rhys’s Radio 4 series Rhysearch was nominated for a couple of awards and his live DVD Spilt Milk completely sold out in just 94 minutes. There was 1 copy.
Star of Live at the Apollo, The Last Leg, The Russell Howard Hour and more! Two-time Edinburgh Comedy Award Nominee Janine Harouni returns with a new hour on family, parenting and marriage.
'Ready for her Netflix special' ★★★★★ - The Times
‘A marvel’ ★★★★ - The Guardian
‘A comedian clearly destined for bigger stages’ ★★★★ - Sunday Post
★★★★ Evening Standard
★★★★ Scotsman
★★★★ Chortle
★★★★ Beyond the Joke
★★★★ Telegraph
★★★★ Skinny
★★★★ List
Comedians’ Choice Award-winner Joz Norris has completed his life’s work, and he’s finally ready to unveil it to the world. But what will he do next? A new show about closure, from the creator and star of BBC Radio 4’s The Dream Factory and A Small Talk On Small Talk. Creator of one of the Evening Standard’s Top 20 Comedy Shows of 2022. Nominated for the Malcolm Hardee Award for Comic Originality and the Chortle Award for Best Variety Act.
Join Priya Hall as she tries to figure out how much information is too much information. Expect to hear about her mid-life crisis (she’s 29), her family members (apols to them), and her opinions on sea creatures (they’re gross and we hate them).
Priya has featured on BBC Presents: Stand up for Live Comedy (BBC One & Three), Fred At The Stand (BBC Radio 4), Mach Fest (BBC Radio Wales), Live From Aberystwyth Pier (BBC Wales).
She stars in and co-wrote Beena and Amrit on BBC Wales. She is a host on the podcast Here to Judge, which is available on Spotify.
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SHOW 1: Thank God This Lasts Forever
Thank God you’re here. John Tothill has missed you so much. It’s actually been hell without you.‘One of the funniest hours of stand-up at this year’s Fringe’ ★★★★★ Telegraph
A rat who orgasmed to death. The notion of Marmite. The time John deliberately got malaria. We’ve got a lot to catch up on.
Pour yourself six glasses of wine and settle in for an evening that, god-willing, won’t end. Maybe we could even have the tiniest cigarette??
Chortle’s Best Newcomer nominee 2024. One of 2023’s Best-Reviewed Edinburgh Fringe Shows (British Comedy Guide). As seen on Comedy Central Live.
Directed by Alex Cartlidge and Kathryn Craigmyle.
SHOW 2: Work in Progress
In 2024, John Tothill’s appendix burst onstage, just days after Trump was almost assassinated. Both men claimed that these near-death experiences changed them. Both were lying.
Join John Tothill as he attempts to monetise what body parts he has left in this brand new work-in-progress from the world’s most profound comedian.
Chortle’s Best Newcomer nominee 2024.
One of 2024 and 2023’s Best-Reviewed Edinburgh Fringe Shows British Comedy Guide
As seen on Comedy Central Live. Tour support for Emma Sidi.
'One of our greatest and most promising new comics' Chortle
★★★★★ Telegraph
★★★★★ EdFest Mag
★★★★★ To Do List
★★★★★ Lost in Theatreland
★★★★.5 Chortle
★★★★ Guardian
★★★★ Observer
★★★★ Time Out
★★★★ Fest
★★★★ Skinny
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Sharon Wanjohi is a queer British Kenyan comedian, who’s been making waves on the circuit with her take on the lack of Gen-z homeowners and maybe too much material on the cartoons that inspired a generation of sexual awakenings.
She has written on Never Mind the Buzzcocks, Late Night Lycett, Never Mind the Buzzcocks and The Jonathan Ross Show.
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Burt Williamson is a stand-up comedian, improviser and comedy producer based in Bristol. He’s had three critically acclaimed runs at the Edinburgh Fringe while also having self produced his debut comedy hour 200 IQ Audience Only (No Munters) which is available on YouTube. At once silly and serious, smart and stupid, Burt is as idiosyncratic as he is hilarious, cramming punchlines with know-it-all charm.
Sure I'm Not Infallible But At Least I'm Hung (WIP)
Sure I’m Not Infallible But At Least I’m Hung is comedian Burt Williamson’s third hour of stand-up comedy and promises to be his best yet. Mixing his trademark aplomb with a goofy punchlines and densely worded stand-up, this is a promising hour from an original comedic voice making waves in the British stand-up comedy scene.
“His beautifully crafted set is clever in unguessable ways, unexpectedly hilarious at every turn and a great joy wrapped up in a big laugh, sprinkled with adorable.” - ★★★★ The Scotsman
“the funniest, most unlikely, rudest yet sweetest” ★★★★ Entertainment Now
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Ben Pope (‘a total delight’ – Fest) brings a work-in-progress of his new stand-up hour to the festival!
Look, there’s no easy way to put this. Last year, Ben got circumcised. On purpose, and as recommended by medical professionals. This show is a 55min inventory of his ensuing masculine panic. Expect jokes and stories on: the male ego, pillow talk, charity shops, the sublime mystery of having a father, and also exactly one pig.
It’s a stand-up show about losing a part of yourself. A very specific part. See you there. Chop chop.
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Following two award-nominated shows, Chelsea’s back with a new show that's sure to make you go hahaha! After a mentalist read her mind and shook her belief system, she's on a mission to prove free will exists and magic doesn't. How? By using tricks to manipulate you!
“Birkby has a delightful onstage manner, giddily dorky, with a sweetness that adds piquancy to her rare forays into edgier material” Telegraph
“She mixes pop culture silliness and smut with philosophy” British Theatre Guide
*****EdFringeReview ****.5 Sunday Post ****Scotsman ****Chortle
Writer Mock the Week. As seen on BBC1 and heard on RHLSTP, BBC Radio 4 and 5Live.
Tour support: Fern Brady, Sarah Keyworth, Helen Bauer, Celya AB.
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Jessica Fostekew: Fettle (WIP)
The very early beginnings of a brand new show that miiiight be about fixing things from star of QI, Travelman and Live at the Apollo. Host and creator of two series of BBC R4’s Sturdy Girl’s Club and podcasts Hoovering and The Guilty Feminist. Do NOT bring your broken items but broken hearts welcome, like always.
A stand-up comedy show from former philosophy teacher Alex Farrow. "An intelligent new star with a skill for strong joke writing" - British Comedy Guide
'Perfect' ***** (Scotsman).
Alex’s solo comedy shows have sold out at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 2019, 2021 and 2022 as well as being a British Comedy Guide top ten pick. "Very Talented" - Chortle.
'Packs a philosophical punch' ***** (The Edinburgh Student paper).
Featured in The Times as part of the Best Jokes of the Fringe. As heard on BBC Radio 4 Extra. His writing has featured on Mock the Week and Have I got News for You.
“Solastalgia”- noun. [sol-a-stal-gi-a] the emotional, physical or existential distress caused by environmental change to your home. A portmanteau of the words ‘solace’ and ‘nostalgia’. A new storytelling climate comedy lecture from everyone's favourite climate academic and comedian Dr Matt Winning about how we end fossil pollution and birth a clean society to save ourselves saving in time whilist protecting what we love most. Host of Net Zero: A Very British Problem (BBC Radio 4). Seen on BBC2 and Dave. Author of Hot Mess: What On Earth Do We Do About Climate Change. ‘Everything a Fringe show should be: hilarious, personal, inventive, and something that will stay with you for some time to come’ ***** (Edinburgh Festivals)
The New Comedian of the Year finalist and co-creator of Crizards **** (Guardian) uncurls from his sleeping spot in the airing cupboard to ponder life's most pressing issues: the decline of civilisation, the degradation of the natural world, and the dwindling acceptance of invitations to his birthday barbeques. Praise for Crizards: **** (Telegraph). **** (BroadwayBaby.com). **** (List). **** (Entertainment-Focus.com). **** (Skinny). **** (Edinburgh Festivals Magazine). ***** (BroadwayWorld.com). ***** (TheReviewsHub.com). ***** (EdFringeReview.com). ***** (NorthWestEnd.co.uk).
A Truly Unique Offering
The Independent
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