25 Cheltenham comedy events guaranteed to get you laughing in 2024

Laughter remains the ultimate remedy, countering stress and lifting spirits, the power of a good chuckle cannot be overstated.

Fortunately, Cheltenham's New Year calendar boasts an abundance of rib-tickling stand-up designed to do just that. So, get ready for a giggle and read on below for a glimpse into the uproarious line up of acts set to grace our town in 2024.

Everyman Theatre

 

Stewart Lee: Basic Lee – 22 to 24 January

Stewart Lee returns to the Everyman Theatre after a sell-out run in 2023!

After a decade of ground-breaking high concept shows involving overarched interlinked narratives, massive sets and enormous comedy props, Lee enters the post-pandemic era in a streamlined solo stand-up mode.

The World According to Kaleb – 25 to 27 January 

Shut the gate! Kaleb Cooper, Chipping Norton’s finest celebrity farmer who shot to fame in the Prime Video series, Clarkson’s Farm, has decided to conquer his fear of the unknown and embark on his first theatre tour.

With often-unwitting humour, deadpan delivery and unique observations, Kaleb is venturing to the Everyman Theatre, to tell it like he sees it!

Lou Conran – 14 February

Award-winning comedian and BBC R4 Comedy Club host, Lou Conran brings her new show to your ears and discusses imperatively important topics such as: What is a bunion? Where is Bobby Davro? And why does fame bring so much joy and pain in equal measure?

Ross Noble: Jibber Jabber Jamboree - 19 February

Jibber Jabber Jamboree marks Ross Noble’s 21st solo stand-up tour.

To celebrate this milestone, he invites you to join him for an evening of the sort of inspired nonsense that has cemented his place as the supreme master of stream-of-conscious freewheeling stand-up.

Lucy Beaumont: The Trouble & Strife – 3 March

It's time for the wife to tour now... 

Award-winning stand-up comedian BEFORE she met Jon Richardson, Live at the Apollo & Taskmaster star and BAFTA nominee, Lucy Beaumont is going to let loose and let slip on her roller coaster world. Life through the Beaumont lens is more surreal than you could ever imagine.

Dom Joly: The Conspiracy Tour – 4 March

“Just because you’re paranoid, doesn’t mean you’re not being followed!”

Dom Joly is back with a rather unique theatre tour, providing a hilarious, fascinating, and slightly anarchic guide to the wacky world of conspiracies. Is the earth flat? Does Finland exist? Is Bill Gates using vaccines to take control of your mind? Let's find out!

Tommy Tiernan: Tommedian – 21 April

Tommy Tiernan's brand new show tommedian is a fun-fueled trip through the comic imagination of one of the best comedians in the world. 

This is a wild, uninhibited, and fiercely physical display of stand-up. A madcap parade of characters, memories, and ridiculous flights of fancy. Theatrical, poetical, and slightly unhinged... DON'T YOU DARE MISS IT!!

Julian Clary: A Fistful of Clary – 5 May

Yee-haw! You’ve heard of The Man With No Name. Well, here’s The Man With No Shame.

Julian Clary, renowned homosexual and national trinket, is fixing to saddle up and head on out for his 2024 UK tour. Julian is sure that the men in the audience will be so eager to join his posse they won’t be able to keep their hands off his Rawhide. 

Punt and Dennis – 20 May

Hugh Dennis and Steve Punt are back on tour for the first time in 10 years.

Older but not really much wiser, they are returning to what they do best; sitting in traffic jams wondering if a different route would have been better, and then in the evening, presenting their new live show. What have they learned from a decade of following the news for Mock the Week and The Now Show? 

Al Murray: Guv Island – 10 November

Standing up so you don't have to take it lying down anymore, the Pub Landlord is back to make sense of the questions you probably already had the answers to.

You know what they say: There’s no school like the old school, with the dodgy overflowing toilets.

Town Hall

Stephen K Amos: Oxymoron – 18 Jan

What a mad couple of years it’s been! How did you get through it all? Stephen’s solution… find the funny. The opportunity in the crisis, the joy in the sadness, the wisdom of fools, after all comedy equals tragedy. Join him for an hour of solid jokes and guaranteed belly laughs. Fresh from a sell-out tour in Australia. Luverly!

Romesh Ranganathan: Hustle – 26 & 27 Jan

After a sell-out tour in 2022, Romesh is back with his new show which examines the human condition… are people inherently good? Is charity always a positive thing? Is hustling the key to success? Or is all this a load of rubbish we’ve made up to keep people working hard for no reason.

Join Romesh as he examines all of these issues and more while providing no real answers.

Andy Parsons: Bafflingly Optimistic – 28 Feb

For those who worry that we are going to hell in a handcart, Parsons will at least make you enjoy the ride. Following a run at the Edinburgh Fringe, Andy is back on the road with his brand-new stand-up show. We’ve been visited by the Four Horsemen in the form of Disease, Death, War and overpriced Ketchup, so what hope can there be? Andy is Bafflingly Optimistic.

Adam Kay: Undoctored – 14 March

The nation’s twelfth-favourite doctor brings his brand new show to Cheltenham, fresh from a record-breaking run at the Edinburgh Fringe and a sell-out season in the West End. This is Going to Hurt was a literary sensation, selling three million copies and becoming a multi-BAFTA-winning BBC series. Undoctored follows on from This is Going to Hurt, leaving audiences laughing and crying with Adam’s unique tales of life on and off the wards.

Rosie Jones: Triple Threat – 21 March

Rosie Jones is on the road for a UK tour and, boy, she is EXCITED.

Join Rosie as she ponders whether she is a national treasure, a little prick, or somewhere in between! This show is guaranteed to be full of unapologetic cheekiness, nonsensical fun and unadulterated JOY from the triple threat herself.

Jack Dee: I’m Sorry I Haven’t A Clue – 22 March

BBC Radio’s multi-award-winning antidote to panel games returns to the stage in 2024 with its sell-out touring show. Join Jack Dee and a host of top-flight comedians for an unmissable evening of inspired nonsense. With musical accompaniment from Colin Sell.

Ivo Graham: Organised Fun – 4 April

After dismantling a barge, doxxing himself in the Doubletree, and blanking on the 1992 Ipswich Town crest (Taskmaster, Off Menu, University Challenge), Ivo ropes his audience into more chaos against the clock.

“Humiliation’s your thing, right?” his brother asked him at Christmas, and, with the full existential ramifications of that still being processed, he’s lining up a show with more risk than ever before (NB: previous shows have broadly been quite low risk).

Iain Stirling: Relevant – 19 April

As the iconic voice of Love Island, star and writer of sitcom Buffering on ITV, and with his own stand-up special, Failing Upwards, on Prime Video, Iain is bringing his intuitive razor-sharp humour back on tour with a brand-new hour (of jokes) in his biggest tour to date! (It’s called RELEVANT if you’re interested).

Ed Gamble: Hot Diggity Dog – 21 April

Ed Gamble has minced a load of meat (thoughts), piped it into a casing (show) and it’s coming to a bun (venue) near you.

There will be all your classic Gamble ranting, raving, and spluttering but he’s doing fine mentally. Promise.

Ed Byrne: Tragedy Plus Time – 22 May

Attributed to Mark Twain, humour is defined as Tragedy Plus Time. Come and join Ed as he tests that formula by mining the most tragic event in his life for laughs.

Richard Herring: Can I Have My Ball Back – 29 June

In 2021 Richard Herring went to his GP to find out why his right ball seemed to be growing bigger. The answer was testicular cancer and one month later he was lying in hospital waiting to have his murderous gonad removed. For a comedian who had done a whole show on male genitalia, this felt like some cruel trick of fate.

In his much-anticipated return to stand-up after six years, answers the question on everyone’s lips: Is a severed gonad in a jar a fitting prize to bring in for Taskmaster?

Jimmy Carr: Laughs Funny – 3 July

If you like fast-paced, edgy one-liners then get ready to be happy. Jimmy Carr is going back on tour with his brand-new show. 

Jimmy tells jokes, and jokes are like magnets. Jokes attract people, but they can also repel. Some people are repelled by Jimmy’s dark brand of comedy. This show is not for them. But if it’s the kind of thing you like, then this is the kind of thing you’ll like.

Rachel Parris: Poise – 18 September

This offering is Rachel at her best; a dazzling hour of her signature blend of stand-up and songs. As a comedian and musician, Rachel is able to entertain and engage with her audiences while touching on some of life's most personal and emotional moments. Expressed with lightness, occasional acidity and often a catchy refrain!

Rhod Gilbert & The Giant Grapefruit – 2 Oct

When life gives you lemons…

Previously, Rhod was dealing with some pretty pungent life citrus, and an idiot called John. Little did he know that things were about to turn even more sour… But Rhod’s not bitter; he’s bouncing back and feeling remarkably zesty. Hilariously dark, passionate and way too personal, this is classic Gilbert, squeezing every last drop out of life’s latest curveballs.

Chris McCausland: Yonks! – 25 Oct

You might have seen him on Scared of the Dark, Would I Lie to You, The Royal Variety, QI, The Last Leg, and tons more as well. He’s been called an “overnight success” – Even though he’s been doing this for bloody yonks!

Chris McCausland is hitting the road again with another masterclass in stand-up comedy that has literally been yonks in the making.

Comedy Clubs

Beyond the household names and TV-special comedians, Cheltenham boasts a vibrant comedy club scene featuring emerging comic talent from the Southwest and beyond. 

Kickstarting the laughs every first Thursday of the month is Lemon Rocket Comedy at Smokey Joes Diner. There’s the Pittville Pump Room Comedy Club situated, unsurprisingly, at the Pittville Pump Room. For a more intimate space that is no less grand, check out Howlers Comedy Club at the Cheltenham Playhouse. Dunkerton’s Cider hosts a monthly comedy night at their scenic outdoor bar. And don’t miss Cygnet Comedy, a lively, female-led stand-up comedy night at The Swan pub. Snag your tickets before they sell out and join in the laughter!

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