Big names from past and present set to bring laughs as popular comedy festival returns to Birmingham

The Birmingham Comedy Festival will bring more than 90 acts to the city for 10 days of top quality comedy and comic events.

Running from Friday, October 3 to Sunday, October 12, the festival is a city-wide multi-arts festival which was established in 2001 and is the UK’s second longest running comedy festival. 

A winner of multiple Best Arts Festival awards, it has seen big-names performing alongside new and emerging acts, and the very best comics from the West Midlands comedy scene, including the likes of Peter Kay, Michael McIntrye, Joe Lycett, Sir Lenny Henry, Alan Carr, Jack Whitehall, Sarah Millican, Joanna Lumley, The Fast Show and Sean Lock.

Among the many highlights of the 2025 festival include a headlining set from Taskmaster star Babatunde Aléshé on October 4 at The Alexandra, while Actors/writers Steve Pemberton and Reece Shearsmith bring their inventive anthology TV series Inside No.9 to the stage from October 7 to 11 and also from December 2 to 6 at the same venue.

Australian ‘silly billys’ Aunty Donna will also appear at the Alexandra on October 2 and 3, while Birmingham Town Hall and the Glee Club will also be popular venues for the festival.

The Town Hall will see performances by Geoff Norcott on October 4, Kane Brown on October 5, Jason Byrne on October 10 and German comedy ambassador Henning Wehn on October 11, while the Glee Club in the Arcadian will see performances by Chris Kent on October 8, Emmanuel Sonubi on October 9 and Elliot Steel on October 10.

There will also be a number of special events across the festival, with The Comic Strip Presents ... on October 4 at the Glee Club seeing Robin Ince be joined by members of the seminal Comic Strip team to discuss the series that launched Channel 4 and also the careers of a generation of British comedians, including Rik Mayall, Ade Edmondson and French and Saunders.

Meanwhile, Trigger Happy TV: Live on October 7 at the Town Hall finds creator Dom Jolly revisiting characters and sketches to mark a quarter-century of chaos and the festival's annual Laurel and Hardy film screenings return with an animal themed triple-bill on October 9 at the West Midlands Police Museum, as well as showings on October 4 in Coventry and October 12 in Stourbridge.

Prior to recording his show for prosperity, Gary Delaney is back on home turf for two special warm-up performances of his hugely successful touring show Gary In Punderland on October 6 and 7 at the Comedy Junction in Sutton Coldfield, while acclaimed Birmingham musical double-act Good Kids reunite for a very special one-off appearance on October 3 at Cherry Reds.

The Birmingham Comedy Festival Free Half-Dayers are also back on October 5 and October 12 at Cherry Reds and The Victoria, with acts appearing including Eric Rushton, Finlay Christie and Jamie D’Souza to test out new material, while Birmingham Comedy Festival Breaking Talent Award Winner 2023 Hasan Al-Habib also appears with the finished version of his debut show, Death To The West (Midlands).

Other visitors to the Free Half-Dayers include the award-winning Rob Kemp with his inventive Beetlejuice/ Beatles mash-up, Beatlesjuice, Andy Robinson and James Cook, recording a new episode of their pop music podcast Shooby Dooby Doo Wop, Tal Davies, who presents a read-through of her work-in-progress sitcom; and improv troupe Behind The Headlines with their improvised Peaky Blinders parody.

The event officially kicks off with the prestigious Birmingham Comedy Festival Breaking Talent Award 2025 on October 3 at The Glee Club.

Organisers asked a popular AI platform about this year's festival, and it replied: "Birmingham Comedy Festival is widely regarded as one of the UK's top independent comedy festivals, and it's especially beloved for its mix of big-name acts, rising stars, and local talent."

Reviewing the AI response, a human spokesman for the festival stated: "Sounds right. Couldn't have said it better."

For tickets and more information about the festival, go to the Birmingham Comedy Festival website.