Glasgow International Comedy Festival is a

comedy festival 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 ...

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

, Scotland. The comedy festival started in 2002 and is held annually in March in venues across the city. The festival's aim is to have the biggest impact of any comedy festival in the world. The festival promotes Glasgow as the funniest city in the world and look to celebrate comedy’s role in Scottish culture. Acts such as Kevin Bridges and Susie McCabe have performed their first-ever solo shows at the Glasgow International Comedy Festival. In 2019 the

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named Glasgow as the top cultural and creative city in the

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. The report cited the Comedy Festival alongside other cultural events as being integral to this status. The festival is recognised for playing host to a number of high-profile comedians alongside providing a platform for new acts. In 2014 the festival arranged for a comedy gig to be held on a

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train service between

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and

. Eight comedians including

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performed aboard a 'comedy carriage' of an afternoon service. Comedy performances linked to charity fundraising have also been a common occurrence during the years of the festival. Most notably

Kevin Bridges Kevin Andrew Bridges (born 13 November 1986) is a Scottish stand-up comedian. His 2012 television series ''Kevin Bridges: What's the Story?'' was based on his stand-up routines. He has appeared on many television panel shows, including '' Woul ...

headlined an event to raise funds for

MND Scotland MND may refer to: Businesses and organisations * MND (company), a Czech oil and gas producer * Ministry of National Defense, departments of several governments * Mount Notre Dame High School, Cincinnati, Ohio, US Other uses * ''A Midsummer Nigh ...

in memory of campaigner

Gordon Aikman Gordon Lewis Aikman BEM (2 April 1985 – 2 February 2017) was a Scottish political researcher and campaigner. He was Director of Research for the Better Together campaign during the Scottish Independence Referendum. During that campaign ...

raising £25,000. The festival organisers have aimed to widen the appeal of the festival to new audiences through accessibility improvements in recent years. In 2017 the festival hosted a show delivered in

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, understood to be the first of its kind in the UK and in 2020 a

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friendly comedy gig will be held in the city's west end. For the 2023 festival, a new award was introduced. The Sir Billy Connolly Spirit of Glasgow Award is the only award given out by the festival. The inaugural winner was Janey Godley.{{Cite news , date=2023-04-02 , title=Janey Godley wins Billy Connolly Glasgow comedy award , language=en-GB , work=BBC News , url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-glasgow-west-65155292 , access-date=2023-09-29

References

External links

Official site
Tourist attractions in Glasgow Comedy festivals in Scotland Festivals in Glasgow Arts festivals in Scotland Festivals established in 2002 Recurring events established in 2002 2002 establishments in Scotland