Comedy Clubs

Going to see live comedy is a popular form of entertainment in London and you can see acts performing in anywhere from specialist comedy clubs to back rooms in local pubs. Here are some of the main venues in the capital.

The Comedy Store First opened in Soho in 1979 and now on Oxendon Street in the heart of the West End between Piccadilly Circus and Leicester Square, the Comedy Store is open nightly at 6.30pm. The 400 seat venue features the regular Comedy Store players performing improv as well as some of the world’s best comedians Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights under the title Best In Stand Up. Tickets for Best In Stand Up are £16, other shows range from £5-£15.

Comedy Cafe A purpose built comdey club off of Shoreditch High Street, near the town hall, where the City of London meets the East End. Customers are given a table for the evening where they can have dinner and watch the show(The website says customers are required to dine). Its open from Wednesday to Saturday with open mic night on the Wednesday and top comdeians on the other nights. Tickets range between £5-£15, show times vary with the day.

Jongleurs A chain of sixteen comedy clubs started in 1983 that now has three venues in London at Bow, Camden and Battersea. The Camden and Bow venues are only open Fridays and Saturdays, Battersea Thursday-Saturday. At all three the last entry is 8pm and the show starts at 8.30pm, there’s a DJ from 11pm-2am. Tickets are £15-16. The Camden venue holds around 380 people.

Lee Hurst’s Backyard Comedy Club Lee Hurst is very well known UK comdeian who’s done a lot of tv work not just stand up. He’s opened his own club in the heart of London’s East End close to Bethnal Green Tube station, with shows four nights a week, 6.30pm-late. Tickets are £15 on the door, £10-12 advance.

The Comedy Tree Held every Thursday and Saturday at the Walkabout pub in Putney, on the south side of the Thames across Putney Bridge, with three or four comedians each night. Its £7 Thursday and £9 Saturday with a DJ playing after the show until 1am.

Amused Moose Has three locations in London, Soho(on Greek Street), Camden and Hampstead, which operate Wednesdays, Saturdays and Sundays but not at all venues. Saturdays seem to be the day they get their best lineups together and tickets for these nights cost £10. Other nights which might be open mic are £4.

Electric Mouse Comedy Club Holds comedy events all over London as well as places like Edinburgh, Ireland, Vancouver and New York. One of their venues is The Fox pub in north London where there’s a comedy show on the first Friday of the month from 8.30-11.30pm, tickets £8 on the door.

There are dozens and dozens of comedy venues and shows in London, website Chortle gives a regular run down on what’s on where.