Fri 29th September

Big Comedy UK Presents: Best of the Fest

Featuring : Mark Nelson, Nina Gilligan, Emmanuel Sonubi

Host: Brendan Riley

Sponsored by: 

Venue: Festival Marquee, Victoria Park

Ticket Price: £15

Door: 7:00pm

Show: 8:00pm

Age: 18+

Best of the Fest

Sponsored by: 

Join us for a fantastic night of live comedy with a triple headline show featuring stars from TV and the cream of the comedy circuit.

Multi award winning comedian and viral sensation, Mark Nelson is one of the UK’s biggest-hitting comedy powerhouses. A regular on BBC Scotland and Radio 4 he has clocked up over 250 million views of his viral comedy clips.

“A remarkably accomplished stage manner with wonderfully crafted gags” List

Nina Gilligan – Winner Best Act, Northwest Comedy Awards 2023, Club Comedian Chortle Awards 2023, Leicester Mercury Comedian of the Year 2021, Liverpool Hot Water comedian of the year 2021.

“A bolshier Mrs Merton she’s not one to suffer fools lightly so watch out for a razor-sharp wit used at will” The Skinny

Emmanuel Sonubi – As seen on Live at the Apollo, Comedy Central’s Stand-Up UK and the ITV2’s Stand-up Sketch Show.

“One of my favourite discoveries of the year” Jason Manford

“A new talent at the door of Stand-Up, his name’s down and he’s definitely coming in” Russell Kane

Hosted by Brendan Riley

Sat 30th September

Gary Delaney - Gary in Punderland

Venue: Festival Marquee, Victoria Park

Ticket Price: £21

Door: 7:00pm

Show: 8:00pm

Age: 16+ PG

May contain strong language and adult content

Gary in Punderland

Get ready to dive into a rabbit hole of the best jokes in the world – star of Live at the Apollo and sell-out sensation Gary Delaney is back!

One of the most sought after joke writers in the country and longstanding Mock the Week special guest, Gary has been through the laughing glass and he’s ready to bring you a brand new show with hit after hit of the kind of one-liners only a master could craft. If you’re hunting for snark, Gary’s got it covered!

★★★★ ‘A cavalcade of brilliantly inventive puns’  Guardian
★★★★ ‘More quality jokes in one hour than most comics have in their entire careers…Quite brilliant’  Scotsman
★★★★ ‘A master craftsman’  Times
★★★★ ‘One of Britain’s grandmasters of the one-liner’’  Chortle

Sun 1st October

Big Comedy Presents: An Evening with Clinton Baptiste

Venue: Festival Marquee, Victoria Park

Ticket Price: £16.50

Door: 7:00pm

Show: 8:00pm

Age: 16+ PG

May contain strong language and adult content

An Evening with Clinton Baptiste

Clinton Baptiste is the useless clairvoyant medium psychic from Peter Kay’s smash hit comedy Phoenix Nights.

Fresh from another sell-out UK tour, he’s back to deliver the best of his recent work, plus some new bits. Join Clinton for his stories, jokes
plus demonstrations of his amazing ability – and as always he’ll be in the audience to give you truthful (but startling) readings from the
spirit world!

Not for the faint hearted!

Tues 3rd October

Seann Walsh - Back from the Bed

Venue: Festival Marquee, Victoria Park

Ticket Price: £15

Door: 7:00pm

Show: 8:00pm

Age: 14+ PG

May contain strong language and adult content

Seann Walsh - Back from the Bed

TV star and comedian Seann Walsh makes his first appearance at the Southport Comedy Festival as part of his national tour

Seann has starred in series 1-3 of The Stand Up Sketch Show (ITV2), Netflix’s FlinchLive At The Apollo (BBC2), Tonight at The London Palladium (ITV), Celebrity Juice (ITV2), Play To The Whistle (ITV), a team captain for Virtually Famous (C4), 8 Out of 10 Cats (C4), Alan Carr’s Chatty Man (C4), Hey Tracey! (ITV2), Comedians Solve World Problems (Comedy Central) and has made regular appearances on The Jonathan Ross Show

‘Unquestionably the best observational comic of his generation’ – The Guardian

‘his standup is richer than ever’ – 4 stars / The Guardian 

Wed 4th October

Jen Brister - The Optimist

Tickets On Sale 11am 9th June

Venue: Festival Marquee, Victoria Park

Ticket Price: £15

Door: 7:00pm

Show: 8:00pm

Age: 18+

Jen Brister - The Optimist

After 76 sold out shows across the country Jen is extending ‘The Optimist’ tour for a third and final time…

If middle age has taught Jen Brister anything, it’s that optimism does not come naturally to her. In fact it’s fair to say that her cup is very much half empty and she’s making no attempt to fill it. Can Jen work against her natural instincts and finally see the light? Or will she stay the same old pessimistic naysayer she’s always been. I mean, I think we know the answer to that, but let’s try and be optimistic.

“No one does furious better than Brister.” The Guardian

“Her energy is explosive. Her use of space and delivery, mesmerising.” The Sunday Times

As seen on BBC’s Live at the Apollo, Mock the Week, Frankie Boyle’s New World Order, Hypothetical and Sara Pascoe’s comedy Lectures on Dave

Thurs 5th October

Tom Davis - Underdog

Venue: Festival Marquee, Victoria Park

Ticket Price: £21

Door: 7:00pm

Show: 8:00pm

Age: 14+ PG 

May contain strong language and adult content

Tom Davis - Underdog

Sweet sweet soul, Tom Davis is best known for hit shows King Gary, The Curse, Murder In Successville, Live At The Apollo and his hugely popular podcast Wolf and Owl with Romesh Ranganathan.

Embarking on his biggest tour to date with his brand new show, ‘Underdog’, Tom will be exploring life as the longshot. From leaving school with no qualifications to years working on building sites, all the way to the difficult road to fatherhood, acting in blockbuster films and yet still being told he’s punching by a waiter.

Big Tom Davis’ return to stand up should not be missed.

Fri 6th October

Comedy Bingo

Sponsored by:

Raising Funds for:

Venue: Festival Marquee, Victoria Park

Ticket Price: £10

Door: 7:00pm

Show: 8:00pm

Age: 16+ PG 

May contain strong language and adult content

Comedy Bingo

Sponsored by:

Raising Funds for:

Eyes Down for a fabulous night of fun(draising) for a fantastic local charity Community Link Foundation with this truly hilarious and unique event!

Comedy Bingo is a highly interactive show hosted by comedian Brendan Riley, ‘bouncy and engaging’ The Scotsman

Sell out show festival 2022

Sat 7th October

Jason Byrne - The Ironic Bionic Man

Venue: Festival Marquee, Victoria Park

Ticket Price: £24.50

Door: 7:00pm

Show: 8:00pm

Age: 14+ PG

May contain strong language and adult content

Jason Byrne - The Ironic Bionic Man

The King of the Southport Comedy Festival returns for his 9th year with a brand new show.

Jason, officially Bionic, “ironically” of course, as Jason, the accident prone, general unfortunate gobshite (to no want of his own) is now, half man, half machine.
Don’t miss this six million dollar/euro Irish prodigy.

‘Outright King of Live Comedy’ The Times

Full on, double-up, gasping-for-oxygen hilarious’ Chortle

‘An hour of stand-up so joyous the clinically depressed should get it on prescription’ Metro

Sun 8th October

Simon Brodkin - Screwed Up

Venue: Festival Marquee, Victoria Park

Ticket Price: £22.50

Door: 7:00pm

Show: 8:00pm

Age: 14+ PG

May contain strong language and adult content

Simon Brodkin - Screwed Up

Fresh from his sold-out, critically-acclaimed Edinburgh Fringe run and becoming the most viewed British comedian of all time on TikTok, world-famous prankster and Lee Nelson creator Simon Brodkin brings his outrageous new stand-up show to the Southport Comedy Festival.

In ‘Screwed Up’ Simon rips into celebrity culture, social media, the police, Putin, Prince Andrew and Jesus. Nothing is off limits in this hilarious show, including his own mental health, his family, his five arrests and how he once found himself at an underground sex party.

“No show has made me laugh more”
★★★★ The Times

“Screwed Up is a full-on rat-a-tat gag-fest”
★★★★ Mail On Sunday

Tue 10th October

Southport New Comedian of the Year
Grand Final

Sponsored by:

Venue: Festival Marquee, Victoria Park

Ticket Price: £5

Door: 7:00pm

Show: 8:00pm

Age: 18+

Note to prospective entrants: Applications open via this website at 10am Monday 4th September.

New Comedian of the Year 2023

Following a national search, eight aspiring comedians will compete to become the next Southport New Comedian of the Year.

Dragon Soop and The Southport Comedy Festival are proud to encourage new talent and help them become the stars of tomorrow. Choosing just one winner from an array of comedy talent won’t be easy.

Hosted by Brendan Riley “A born compere” The Guardian

Dragon Soop should only be consumed by adults aged 18+. Please enjoy responsibly

 

Wed 11th October

Jimeoin: The Craic

Venue: Festival Marquee, Victoria Park

Ticket Price: £19.50

Door: 7:00pm

Show: 8:00pm

Age: 14+ PG

May contain strong language and adult content

Jimeoin: The Craic

Live Nation & MZA present:

Following last year’s sold-out show Jimeoin returns to the Southport Comedy Festival with his smash hit show The Craic. An hilarious evening of World-Class stand-up from live comedy’s internationally acclaimed Irish master!
You’ve seen him on ‘The Royal Variety Performance’, ‘Live at the Apollo’, ‘Sunday Night at the Palladium’, ‘Conan O’Brien’ or perhaps online where he has clocked up hundreds of millions of views of his comedy clips… but NOTHING beats seeing Jimeoin live.

‘Jimeoin recalls the familiar at a fantastically silly level, boiling his audience down to a tear-filled, gibbering mess.’ (Scotland on Sunday)

‘At the top of his game… didn’t leave a dry eye in the house’ !!!!! (Manchester Evening News)

www.jimeoin.com | T @Jimeoin | YouTube: JimeoinOfficial | Insta: Jimeoin | FB: Jimeoin

Thu 12th October

Paul Sinha - Pauly Bengali

Tickets On Sale  11am 2nd June

Venue: Festival Marquee, Victoria Park

Ticket Price: £15

Door: 7:00pm

Show: 8:00pm

Age: 16+ PG

May contain strong language and adult content

Paul Sinha - Pauly Bengali

Acclaimed comedian, daytime TV star and global TikTok sensation, Paul Sinha is at least two of these. Paul’s last solo show was one of the best-reviewed shows at the 2022 Edinburgh Festival.

‘Packed with goodies and not a moment of padding or superfluity, this is easily the funniest and most gratifying stand-up I have seen in two decades’ ***** BroadwayBaby.com.

‘This isn’t going to be a cosy, teatime, ITV-friendly hour… a seriously impressive show.’ **** ½ Chortle.

‘Very cutting for a man whose neck looks like a stack of Cumberland sausages’ Garry Bushell.

‘Not the wealthiest Chaser’ Liverpool Echo.

Paul Sinha returns to the festival for a ninth year with his brand-new show Pauly Bengali.

Fri 13th October

An Evening and A Little Bit of a Morning With Mark Steel

Venue: Festival Marquee, Victoria Park

Ticket Price: £17

Door: 7:00pm

Show: 8:00pm

Age: 14+ PG

May contain strong language and adult content

An Evening and A Little Bit of a Morning With Mark Steel

Critically acclaimed multi award winning writer and comedian Mark Steel plays the Southport Comedy Festival for the first time.

Mark is best known for his BBC Radio 4 show Mark Steel’s in Town voted the 6th best radio comedy ever. He has also presented the BAFTA-nominated Mark Steel Lectures for BBC Two and is a regular on BBC 1’s Have I Got News for You and BBC Radio 4’s The News Quiz.

Mark has been named newspaper columnist of the year and is author of the award-winning audiobook Who Do I Think I Am?

Join him for an evening (and maybe a little bit of morning) of stand-up comedy at it’s very finest.

‘Steel’s rapier wit cuts to the chase’ The Observer

Sat 14th October

Bingo Nights UK Presents: Disco Bingo

Raising Money for Southport Flower Show

Venue: Festival Marquee, Victoria Park

Ticket Price: £10

Door: 7:00pm

Show: 8:00pm

Age: 18+

Bingo Nights UK Presents: Disco Bingo

Raising Money for Southport Flower Show

Eyes Down for a fabulous night of fundraising for Southport Flower Show with this truly interactive event. Disco Bingo is exactly what it says on the tin; a full night of traditional style Disco and Bingo but with a modern twist!

Guaranteed to get the whole room up and dancing, classic disco hits are triggered when certain bingo numbers are called. The entire evening is peppered with music and good-natured banter provided by comedian and presenter Brendan Riley.

Sell out show Festival 2021and 2022 so grab your tickets now.

Sun 15th October

Rich Hall - Shot From Cannons

Tickets On Sale  11am 2nd June

Venue: Festival Marquee, Victoria Park

Ticket Price: £17

Door: 7:00pm

Show: 8:00pm

Age: 14+ PG

May contain strong language and adult content

Rich Hall - Shot From Cannons

Multi Award winning comedy legend Rich Hall returns to the Southport Comedy Festival

Fresh on the heels of his critically acclaimed memoirs, Nailing It, Montana’s transatlantic messenger returns with new rants, knife-edge observations, thrilling musical interludes and an ever-formidable knack for laughs on the fly. You’ll pay for the whole seat, but you’ll only need the edge of it.

As seen on Live at the Apollo, Have I Got News For You and QI

Vital and incredulously angry. Hilarious.” – The Scotsman

“Blissfully funny” – Guardian