Birmingham Comedy Festival is an annual arts festival in the city of

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1. ...

. The festival takes place throughout the city for 10 days during October. While primarily focused on stand-up comedy, it also includes films, theatre, cabaret, visual arts, spoken word, music, dance.

History

Birmingham Comedy Festival has been drawing attention to the city's vibrant (and often unsung) comedy scene since 2001 when the debut festival hit the road running thanks to appearances from

Peter Kay Peter John Kay (born 2 July 1973) is an English actor, comedy writer and stand-up comedian. He has written, produced and acted in several television and film projects, and has written three books. Born and brought up in Bolton, Kay studied ...

and

Sean Lock Sean Lock (22 April 1963 – 16 August 2021) was an English comedian and actor. He began his comedy career as a stand-up comedian and in 2000 he won the British Comedy Award, in the category of Best Live Comic, and was nominated for the Pe ...

. Since then, the festival has grown into one of the largest independent arts festivals in the region. BBC Birmingham reported that 86,000 people attended the festival in 2009 - the same year

Michael McIntyre Michael Hazen James McIntyre (born 21 February 1976) is an English comedian, writer and television presenter. In 2012, he was the highest-grossing stand-up comedian in the world. He currently presents his own Saturday night series, ''Michael Mc ...

headlined with a run of shows at the city's National Indoor Arena. Over the years the festival has attracted some of the biggest names in comedy, including

Lenny Henry Sir Lenworth George Henry (born 29 August 1958) is a British actor, comedian, singer, television presenter and writer. Henry gained success as a stand-up comedian and impressionist in the late 1970s and early 1980s, culminating in '' The Le ...

, Lee Evans,

Jimmy Carr James Anthony Patrick Carr (born 15 September 1972) is a British-Irish comedian, presenter, writer, and actor. He is known for his deadpan delivery of controversial one-liners and distinctive laugh, for which he has been both praised and criti ...

, and

Sarah Millican Sarah Jane Millican ( King; born 29 May 1975) is an English comedian, writer and presenter. Millican won the comedy award for Best Newcomer at the 2008 Edinburgh Festival Fringe. In February 2013 she was listed as one of the 100 most powerful ...

. Acts from the city and surrounding area are a key focus for the festival, with repeat appearances from such local comics as

Joe Lycett Joe Harry Lycett, also known by the self-given moniker Mummy, is an English comedian, painter and television presenter. Known for his sardonically camp style, whimsical public stunts and elaborate set designs, Lycett has been described as one ...

Janice Connolly Janice Connolly is an English actress, comedian and artistic director. She runs the Birmingham-based group Women and Theatre, and performs stand-up comedy as her character Mrs Barbara Nice. Connolly has also appeared in ''Coronation Street'', ' ...

aka Mrs Barbara Nice,

Jo Enright Jo Enright is an English stand-up comedian and actress who has appeared in a number of television and radio comedy programmes. She is best known for her roles in ''The Job Lot'', '' Life's Too Short'' and ''Trollied''. Career In 1995, she made ...

, James Cook,

Josh Pugh Josh Pugh (born 20 August 1989) is an English stand-up comedian and actor. Early life Pugh was born in Nuneaton in 1989 and grew up in Atherstone, Warwickshire. Career Pugh began performing in 2014. He won new act competitions in both Birmi ...

, Gareth Berliner, Andy White, and others. Key venues include

The Glee Club The Glee Club is a chain of independent live stand-up comedy and live music venues in the UK. The first Glee Club was opened by Mark Tughan in Birmingham's Chinese Quarter in 1994,

, Birmingham Town Hall,

Symphony Hall, Birmingham Symphony Hall is a 2,262 seat concert venue in Birmingham, England. It was officially opened by Queen Elizabeth II on 12 June 1991, although it had been in use since 15 April 1991. It is home to the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra and hos ...

, mac (Birmingham),

Old Rep The Old Rep (originally Birmingham Repertory Theatre) is the United Kingdom's first ever purpose-built repertory theatre, constructed in 1913, located on Station Street in Birmingham, England. The theatre was a permanent home for Barry Jacks ...

, Old Joint Stock Theatre, Cherry Reds, The Victoria pub,

The Electric, Birmingham The Electric is a cinema in Birmingham, England. It opened in Station Street in 1909, showing its first silent film on 27 December of that year. It was the first cinema in Birmingham, and is the oldest known working cinema in the country. The ...

and comedy clubs around the city. Regular events include the ''Birmingham Comedy Festival Breaking Talent Award'' and the ''Birmingham Comedy Festival Free Half-Dayers'', introduced in 2015 and running across two venues in John Bright Street. In 2019, the festival won What's On Readers' Awards, for Best Midlands Arts/ Cultural Festival 2019 (covering West Midlands county, Warwickshire, Shropshire, Staffordshire, and Worcestershire) and Best Birmingham Arts Festival 2019. The festival retained both awards in 2020. Responding to the pandemic, the festival shifted its emphasis to online activities for 2020 with a programme that consisted of "a series of unique interventions and excursions". These included various streamed shows, a radio series, and podcasts. Participants included musician Dan Whitehouse, who created a new soundtrack to Charlie Chaplin's

The Vagabond (1916 film) ''The Vagabond'' is a 1916 American silent romantic comedy film by Charlie Chaplin and his third film with Mutual Films. Released to theaters on July 10, 1916, it co-starred Edna Purviance, Eric Campbell, Leo White and Lloyd Bacon. This film ech ...

The Nightingales Nightingales (a.k.a. The Nightingales) are a British post-punk/alternative rock band, formed in 1979 in Birmingham, England, by four members of Birmingham's punk group The Prefects. They had been part of The Clash's 'White Riot Tour', record ...

, Laura Lexx, and acclaimed Birmingham street artist Foka Wolf.

Breaking Talent Award

The Birmingham Comedy Festival Breaking Talent Award was introduced in 2014 and is open to new, emerging and early career acts from the West Midlands. Inclusion is by invitation-only and the competition takes place on the first Friday of the festival at

The Glee Club The Glee Club is a chain of independent live stand-up comedy and live music venues in the UK. The first Glee Club was opened by Mark Tughan in Birmingham's Chinese Quarter in 1994,

. The annual competition aims to recognise and support 'breaking talent' from the region, offering the winner a vital step-up on the comedy career ladder.

, who won the title in 2015, went on to be crowned English Comedian Of The Year in 2016. The award was temporarily 'paused' in 2020 (and 2021) due to the

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quickly ...

pandemic but returned in 2022. Winners are as follows: 2014: Andrew McBurney 2015:

2016: Harvey Hawkins 2017: Kai Samra 2018: Laura Monmoth 2019: Celya AB 2020 and 2021: No award due to Covid-19. 2022: Hannah Weetman The following acts have also been Commended: Good Kids (2018) and Mary Flanigan (2019).

Awards and nominations

* 2020: What's On Readers' Awards: Best Midlands Arts/ Cultural Festival + Best Birmingham Arts Festival - Winner (two categories) * 2019: What's On Readers' Awards: Best Midlands Arts/ Cultural Festival - Winner
Birmingham What's On Winner Announced ... via Facebook, 15 March 2019 * 2019: What's On Readers' Awards: Best Birmingham Arts Festival - Winner * 2018: What's On Readers' Awards: Best Midlands Arts/ Cultural Festival + Best Birmingham Arts Festival - Shortlisted (two categories) * 2017: What's On Readers' Awards: Best Midlands Arts Festival - Winner * 2017: What's On Readers' Awards: Best Festival In Birmingham - Runner Up * 2016: What's On Readers' Awards: Best Arts Festival - Runner Up

Key Projects

The Goon Show

In 2014, the festival company performed a script-in-hand stage adaptation of

The Goon Show ''The Goon Show'' is a British radio comedy programme, originally produced and broadcast by the BBC Home Service from 1951 to 1960, with occasional repeats on the BBC Light Programme. The first series, broadcast from 28 May to 20 September 19 ...

featuring two scripts by

Spike Milligan Terence Alan "Spike" Milligan (16 April 1918 – 27 February 2002) was an Irish actor, comedian, writer, musician, poet, and playwright. The son of an English mother and Irish father, he was born in British Colonial India, where he spent his ...

- ''The Phantom Head Shaver (of Brighton)'' and ''The Canal''. The company revived The Goons in 2017 for a Midlands tour which included two sell-out performances at Midlands Arts Centre, Birmingham. The tour focused on two other Milligan episodes, ''The House of Teeth'' and ''Jet Propelled Guided NAAFI''.

The Lost Hancocks: Vacant Lot

The same year as the second Goon Show run, the company premiered two lost 1950s radio scripts written for

Tony Hancock Anthony John Hancock (12 May 1924 – 25 June 1968) was an English comedian and actor. High-profile during the 1950s and early 1960s, he had a major success with his BBC series ''Hancock's Half Hour'', first broadcast on radio from 1954, ...

by comedy writer

Larry Stephens Lawrence Geoffrey Stephens (16 July 1923p.14926 January 1959) was a BBC radio scriptwriter, best remembered for co-writing ''The Goon Show'' with Spike Milligan. Stephens was a regular writer of the show for the first two years, and then return ...

as The Lost Hancocks: Vacant Lot. The "genteel comedy" was described as "wonderful" by the

Express and Star The ''Express & Star'' is a regional evening newspaper in Britain. Founded in 1889, it is based in Wolverhampton, England, and covers the West Midlands county and Staffordshire. Currently edited by Martin Wright, the ''Express & Star'' publish ...

. Further performances have followed, including a sell-out appearance at

The British Library The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom and is one of the largest libraries in the world. It is estimated to contain between 170 and 200 million items from many countries. As a legal deposit library, the British ...

in 2018. Among the cast were actress

and impressionist James Hurn. The festival launched its first podcast during 2020 with ''The Great Larry Stephens Mystery: Or How A Forgotten Black Country Writer Changed British Comedy Forever!'', a mini-audio documentary exploring the life of

and featuring audio recorded live during a Vacant Lot performance.Tony Hancock Appreciation Society, Larry Stephens Podcast, 22 April 2020, http://www.tonyhancock.org.uk/news/221/74/Larry-Stephens-Podcast

References

External links

* *{{Official facebook page, bhamcomfest Comedy festivals in England Festivals in Birmingham, West Midlands Comedy film festivals Film festivals in England