The Oxford Comedy Festival is a month-long opportunity to catch some of the most hotly anticipated comedy shows of the year just before they make a splash at the Edinburgh Fringe. Organisers QED Comedy Lab present their top picks, exclusively for Daily Info.
The Oxford Comedy Festival is back this year from 1-31 July with two shows per night full of amazing talent you’ve seen on TV or heard on podcasts and the radio. From the opening night’s star Rachel Fairburn, to the closing gala headlined by Andrew O’Neill, the line-up is crammed with big names to please any comedy fan, like Ivo Graham, Jessica Fostekew, Matt Forde, Olga Koch, Alison Spittle, Sarah Keyworth, and Nabil Abdulrashid. Among the 54 great shows, the festival boasts an amazing selection of the next generation of comedy talent. This is a great opportunity to see some new, emerging voices, so that you can brag to your friends later when you see them on TV that you’ve known about them for years. So here are ten shows you may have overlooked but shouldn’t miss at this year’s Oxford Comedy Festival:
Louise Young: Feral – Sunday 2 July @ 7:30pm – The debut hour from the award winning Geordie jokesmith is as wild as the name implies. It promises to be sixty minutes of revelations about class, chaos and coming out that will have you howling. (Honourable Mention: Stick around for the next show: Tom Little: The Reliably Funny Comedian You Want To See. It’s exactly what it says on the tin with inventive, unexpected, and silly jokes throughout from the viral Twitter star.)
Kuan-wen Huang: Ilha Formosa – Thursday 6 July @ 9:00pm, Trinity College Bar – Have you ever said to yourself: “Everybody’s always talking about Taiwan in the news but it’s never funny”? Well then we have the perfect show for you. Taiwanese born Kuan-wen (as heard/seen on BBC Three, BBC Radio 4 and Comedy Central) is bringing his new show (which has been picking up awards all over the place) about his home country and why he traded that beloved island for this rainy one.
Elf Lyons and Duffy: Heist – Friday 7 July @ 9:00pm, Trinity College Bar – It’s a bank robbery. It’s a comedy show. It’s a love story. It’s clowning. It’s a physical show with Visual Vernacular (VV), conducted in British Sign Language with some very violent live sound effects! We have no idea what to expect - which is exactly what we would expect from the eccentric genius Elf Lyons and theatrical wunderkind Duffy. It’ll be a delight.
Jen Ives: Pasta Comedian – Saturday 8 July @ 7:30pm, Trinity College Bar - After a sell-out run in Edinburgh with her acclaimed show Peak Trans, Jen Ives is back with a new show in a decidedly sillier and weirder direction. It’s about pasta and we are here for it! Literally all she has told us is that it is about pasta but Jen has been such a consistently hilarious, insightful, and hilarious comedic voice for the last couple years we are excited to see where this one goes.
Louise Atkinson: Mates – Sunday 9 July @ 7:30pm, The White House – In her debut hour, Louise reflects on our chosen family: our friends. They’re the people we go out drinking with, cry over exes in the toilets with, and occasionally lose and spend the night searching for. The multi-award winner encourages you to grab a pint (of wine) and let her regale you with some of her funniest memories, for the perfect night out with your own mates (or the perfect setting if you’re looking to make new ones).
Sarah Roberts: Worm in Progress – Thursday 13 July @ 9pm, Trinity College Bar - An adorable work-in-progress from the world’s youngest, smallest, most normal comedian. Expect important and timely questions such as, 'Was I Henry VIII in my past life?', 'Would you still fancy me if I was a worm?' and 'Can I vape on stage?' And maybe some stuff about death. Fun!
Myq Kaplan: ImPerfect – Monday 24 July @ 9:00pm, Tap Social Movement – Imported especially for this festival, American legend Myq Kaplan brings his laser-precise joke writing (featured on Conan, Letterman and everywhere in-between) to the UK. After 20 years as a comedian (and 44 as a person) Myq offers advice to his past self on subjects ranging from traditional marriage to polyamory, quantum mechanics to psychedelics, Moby Dick to Nintendo – reflecting on potential improvements as a man, a partner, and matter/energy comprising an infinitesimal portion of the universe.
Mamoun Elagab: Why I Love White People - Sunday 23 July @ 9:00pm, The White House – Mamoun Elgab has been a rising start on the comedy circuit for a couple years now, racking up accolades and awards. Now he returns to his home town of Oxford to debut his first full hour. Born to academics, a dark turn put Mamoun's life into a new perspective. This is not champagne socialism – this is the voice of the people. (Honourable Mention: make it a double feature this night by seeing Lulu Popplewell: Actually Actually at 7:30pm too. It’s an awesome tale of her journey from failed child star to successful comedian, exploring the links between Love Actually, smoking crack, the Daily Mail and sunburn along the way).
Caitriona Dowden is Holier Than Thou – Friday 28 July @ 7:30pm, Trinity College Bar – Rejoice, the hour is at hand! The debut hour, that is, from Oxford local legend and Chortle Student Comedian of the Year 2022 Caitriona Dowden. She is pretty sure she would have thrived in the middle ages but since that opportunity passed, she’s decided the best career choice for her now is Catholic Saint. Find out how she can achieve this totally normal goal with a revelation of a show with miraculously written, reverently delivered jokes. It may be the most spiritually uplifting experience of your life.
Ania Magliano: I Can't Believe You've Done This – Sunday 30 July @ 9:00pm, The White House – Critically acclaimed rising star, tour support for the likes of Ed Gamble and Marc Maron, Ania Magliano follows up her sold-out 2022 debut with a new show about THE worst haircut of her life.
Disclaimer: if you had no idea where to start with the embarrassment of riches that is the Oxford Comedy Festival, the comedy nerds at QED Comedy Lab hope this helps you with picking some great shows to check out. But since this festival is so lovingly curated,you really can’t go wrong with any of the shows - so be sure to check out the full schedule online.
QED's Oxford Comedy Festival runs from Saturday 1st to Monday 31st July.