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 Flinch, Live 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