Returning to delight audiences once more, Actually Rather Good Comedy Festival announces its captivating line up for 2023, as it is hosted once again at Shoreditch Town Hall. A sure-fire staple in any comedy lover’s calendar, ARGComFest is the weekend comedy festival of Fringe previews and work-in-progress shows in the East End. Founded in 2012, the festival brings an attentively curated programme of over 60 comedians — from big name TV favourites to up-and-coming newcomers — to Shoreditch Town Hall. In 2016, ARGComFest became the first ever major comedy festival to have a gender balanced programme and it continues to champion diversity and representation within comedy, including live captioned performances throughout the weekend.
This exciting weekend of comedy is kicked off by spectacular all-star showcase The Friday Night Show, featuring the very best comedy on the circuit and hosted by Writer’s Guild Award winner Olga Koch (Mock The Week, BBC Two; Homecoming, Amazon Prime). This year’s blockbuster bill includes two-time Edinburgh Comedy Award nominee Nish Kumar (The Mash Report, BBC Two);
Edinburgh Comedy Award, Rose d’Or and South Bank Sky Arts Award winner Bridget Christie (Taskmaster, Channel 4; Ghosts, BBC One); co-host of BBC Sounds Wheel of Misfortune podcast and Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2022 hit Alison Spittle; and Edinburgh Comedy Award nominee Janine Harouni (Buffering, ITV2), with even more acts to be announced. The Friday Night Show will also feature live captioning, to make the show more accessible to a wider range of audiences.
Across the rest of the weekend, there’s even more for audiences to enjoy, with a line up including Never Mind The Buzzcocks regular Jamali Maddix; 2023 Taskmaster star and Off Menu self-doxxer Ivo Graham; people’s princess and TikTok starlet Daniel Foxx; three-time Edinburgh Comedy Award nominee Kieran Hodgson; and “the king of online” Mat Ewins. Expect tales of romance, a hologram and a near-death experience in Thorpe Park from Celya AB; jokes (mainly) about how weird and annoying capitalism is from working-class comedian Tom Mayhew; and brand-new routines from Edinburgh sell-out star Chloe Petts. Nabil Abdulrashid returns with new material about trying to be
a good person while staying a badman; a show about strength, the female body and how awesome the NHS is in Scotland from Thanyia Moore; and a surreal and silly interactive stand-up show/birthday party from Cerys Bradley. Stuart Laws talks about getting married, being middle of the road and trying to be more honest; Sikisa worries about words, in a story of rediscovery and reflection; John Travulva critiques his best-known tick-box character: queer, non-binary, neurodiverse class-straddler Jodie Mitchell; and following last year’s critically-acclaimed, sell-out debut Ania Magliano returns with a show about the worst haircut of her life.
This year’s hotly anticipated debuts include Priya Hall’s joyful tribute Grandmother’s Daughter; Lulu Popplewell explores the links between Love Actually, smoking crack and sunburn; Freya Parker (sketch duo Lazy Susan; Jurassic World: Dominion) navigates the struggles of trying to remain cheeky when it’s raining trauma; and Leila Navabi brings a show about how unethical it is to artistically exploit marginalised identities for social gain.
The weekend’s fantastic hosts include Fringe favourite Joz Norris (The Dream Factory, BBC Radio 4); comedy goblin and Oscar-losing Writer’s Assistant Saima Ferdows; and creator of international cult comedy night Storytellers’ Club Sarah Bennetto. Joining them are the “marvellously dark & dangerous” (Scotsman) Richard Sandling and the “wonderfully quirky” Nathaniel Metcalfe.
For a single, ridiculously good value ticket price, audiences get access to a whole weekend of comedy, with day or weekend tickets on offer to give audience members freedom to move between spaces, seeing whichever acts they choose. With even more acts to be announced, London’s greatest comedy festival makes its welcome return to Shoreditch – don’t miss it!
Dates Friday 30th June – Sunday 2nd July 2023 Location Shoreditch Town Hall, 380 Old Street, London EC1V 9LT
Box Office Tickets are available from the Shoreditch Town Hall website: https://shoreditchtownhall.com/productions/argcomfest
Prices The Friday Night Show: £20
Day ticket: £34
Weekend ticket: £52
The Friday Night Show & Weekend ticket: £64
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