Birmingham Comedy Festival line-up revealed
Birmingham Comedy Festival is back this autumn with more than 80 performances across 10 days.
It runs from Friday 7 to Sunday 16 October 2022 with a line-up that includes stand-up comedy, improv, theatre, podcasts and magic.
Highlights include appearances from Britain’s Got Talent 2022 winner Axel Blake (Oct 16, Alexandra Theatre), the West End production of hit musical Sister Act (Oct 4-15, Birmingham Hippodrome), and Austentatious (Oct 8-9, The Old Rep), the improvised play inspired by the works of Jane Austen, and starring some of the UK’s best improvisers.
Meanwhile, Troy Hawke (Oct 12), Dan Nightingale (Oct 13-15), and Helen Bauer (Oct 12) all head to The Glee Club, and Birmingham Rep host Tartuffe (Oct 14-Nov 5), a contemporary update of Molière’s 17th century classic adapted by BAFTA and Emmy Award-winning writers Anil Gupta and Richard Pinto (The Office, Goodness Gracious Me, The Kumars at No.42, Citizen Khan), and directed by Iqbal Khan (artistic director of Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games Opening Ceremony).
Other highlights include the return of the Birmingham Comedy Festival Breaking Talent Award (Oct 7, The Glee Club), the region’s most prestigious comedy prize, and 2x Free Half-Dayers (Oct 9 and 16) featuring 16 acts over consecutive Sundays at two city-centre venues (Cherry Reds and The Victoria). Those appearing include rising star Celya AB, duo Good Kids, Andy Robinson, Mary Flanigan and Aaron Twitchen.
Other acts appearing across the festival include ‘German comedy ambassador’ Henning Wehn (Oct 7-8, Birmingham Town Hall), Brum improv group Jumprov! (Oct 8, Birmingham Hippodrome), podcasters A Gay And A Nongay (Oct 8, Mockingbird Cinema) and GingerBeardMark (Oct 16, Mockingbird Cinema), and Simon Munnery (Oct 13, The Irish Centre), while the Kamikaze Club bring a dozen shows to 1000 Trades, including Danny Clives, Tom Mayhew, Alex Hylton and Eric Rushton.
And for fans of classic film comedy, there’s a special themed Laurel and Hardy screening at West Midlands Police Museum (Oct 14) too.
A spokesperson for the festival said: “After our hugely successful yet slightly scaled back festival last year, 2022 sees us back to full strength with a fantastic fest’ that features loads of great shows.
“There’s some big names, but the festival also continues to spotlight some of the very best talent coming out of the city and the West Mids. We’re also hosting more free/ pay what you want shows this year than ever before.”
Established in 2001, Birmingham Comedy Festival is the UK’s second longest-running comedy festival, and is one of the largest independent unfunded arts festivals in the West Midlands.
