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A comedy festival is a celebration of comedy with many shows, venues, comedy performers (such as stand up comics, sketch troupes, variety performers, etc.) and is held over a specific block of time. Normally, each festival has a diverse range of comedy themes and genres. [1]
A partial list of well-known comedy festivals includes:
The Edinburgh Festival Fringe is the world's largest performance arts festival, which in 2024 spanned 25 days, sold more than 2.6 million tickets and featured more than 51,446 scheduled performances of 3,746 different shows across 262 venues from 60 different countries. Of those shows, the largest section was comedy, representing almost 40% of shows, followed by theatre, which was 26.6% of shows.
Just for Laughs was a comedy festival that was held every July in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1982, it was the largest international comedy festival in the world. In addition to the festivals themselves, Just for Laughs also developed, produced, and distributed other forms of comedy entertainment, such as television programming.
James Anthony Patrick Carr is a British-Irish comedian, presenter, writer and actor. He is known for his rapid-fire deadpan delivery of one-liners which have been known to offend some people. He began his comedy career in 1997, and he has regularly appeared on television as the host of Channel 4 panel shows such as 8 Out of 10 Cats, 8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown and The Big Fat Quiz of the Year.
The Melbourne International Comedy Festival (MICF) is the largest stand-alone comedy festival and the second-largest international comedy festival in the world. First held in 1987, it takes place annually in Melbourne over four weeks, typically starting in March and running through to April. The Melbourne Town Hall has served as the festival hub, but performances are held in many venues throughout the city.
Glenn Wool is a Canadian stand-up comedian based in England. He has released six albums, including 2020's Viva Forever, produced by Dan Schlissel for Stand Up! Records.
Sam Simmons is an Australian comedian, actor, and radio and TV presenter. He has toured extensively with his stand-up shows, as well as many appearances on TV in Australia, the US, and the UK. He has won and been nominated for many awards, and won the Helpmann Award for Best Comedy Performer in 2014.
The Free Fringe is an organisation that promotes free shows during the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, the world's largest arts festival, every August.
The Free Edinburgh Fringe Festival is a programme of free entry events that takes place at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, the world's largest arts festival, each August. It is organised by the comedy promoter Laughing Horse, although it includes shows of different genres. It used to be affiliated with the Free Fringe when it was initially launched, but since 2007 has operated as a separate entity.
Matt Roper is a British comedian, writer and musician.
John Kearns is an English comedian and actor.
Bob Slayer is an Edinburgh Comedy Award winning comedian, musician and promoter. He has been part of a new economic model for venues at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe which has made the event fairer and more affordable for performers and audiences. Acts that have performed at his venues have won and been nominated for a number of prestigious awards.
Nathan Cassidy is a British comedian, writer, actor and podcaster.
Mohammed Tehzeeb Ilyas, popularly known as "Tez" Ilyas, is a British stand-up comedian. He is best known for starring in the BBC Three comedy, Man Like Mobeen and presenting the satirical comedy programme, The Tez O'Clock Show on Channel 4.
Pierre Novellie is a South African-born comedian and writer.
Lauren Pattison is an English comedian from Newcastle. She was nominated for the Best Newcomer award at the 2017 Edinburgh Festival Fringe for her debut show Lady Muck, and for Best Show in 2022 for It Is What It Is.
John-Luke Roberts is a British stand-up comedian, writer, actor and performer.
Ingrid Elise Dahle is a UK-based Norwegian comedian and actress.
Milo Leonard Edwards is an English comedian, podcaster and writer. He co-hosts the podcasts Trashfuture, Masters of Our Domain, Toomuch (Тумач), and Glue Factory. He has performed comedy in both English and Russian, including on the shows Open Microphone and StandUp. He has been a comedy writer for Late Night Mash, Mock the Week, Hello America, Breaking The News and The News Quiz and has written for Private Eye and The New Statesman. He has been described by Chortle as ‘one of the UK’s smartest, most vital stand-ups'.
Henry Paker is a British comedian, writer and illustrator.
McCarthy, Sean L. (27 February 2017). "The Definitive Guide to Comedy Festivals for 2017". The Comic’s Comic. Retrieved 25 March 2020.