As with September but more so, October is a month where the buzziest Edinburgh Fringe shows arrive in London, with oddball endeavours like Sam Eley’s hateful old man alter ego Basil Crumbwick or Lin Jin Hao’s ambient comedy smash Falling from a Moon. There is, as ever, plenty more besides, from a last chance to see Tim Key’s hits show Loganberry to a first look at the latest from musical comedy duo Flo & Joan at Shepherd’s Bush Empire.
There are far, far too many one-off, multi-performer comedy nights in London for us to compile a single coherent page with our favouites on, which is entirely to London’s credit. So do check individual bills of comedy clubs online for that sort of thing. But if you’re looking for an individual comedian with a full headline show then this page is here to compile the Time Out editorial team’s top choices, often with our reviews from the Edinburgh Festival Fringe.
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What is it? This atmosphere-heavy, nostalgia-suffused second show from Singapore-raised comic Hao deliberately intercuts the mythic and the mundane – the arty stuff and the gags – as it details his longing for home as his moves to unfamiliar London. It’s certainlty quite a different style of comedy but it is funny as well as the more out there stuff, and it bagged Hao an unexpected but not unwelcome place of the Edinburgh Comedy Award shortlist this Fringe.
Where is it? Soho Theatre.
What is it? Singing sisters Flo & Joan – aka Nicola and Rosie Dempsey – had taken a little step back from their own burgeoning success as purveyors of comic song via their highly successful Andrew Lloyd Webber spoof One Man Musical, which did the rounds for ages and gave a big pre-SNL career boost to its star George Fouracres. Precisely what to expect from With Feeling we’re not sure: but lots of funny songs, that’s for certain.
Where is it? Shepherd’s Bush Empire.
What is it? One of the buzziest late night shows of this year’s Edinburgh Festival Fringe, Soul Sewage is Sam Eley’s debut hour as Basil Crumbwick – a horny, embittered old man with a papier maché head. Both uncomfortable and hilarious, it’s recreating some of that Fringe magic by being staged about as late as Soho Theatre goes, or at least it is for its initial October run. That’s now sold out, but Eley (and Basil) will be back for another crack at it in January 2027.
Where is it? Soho Theatre.
What is it? High concept comic weirdo Brookes last popped out of his lair a couple of years ago with Fontanelle, a show that – contrary to its name – was kind of (kind of) his attempt to do a musical about the Titanic. His latest show The Part of You That’s Always Screaming was ‘inspired by an absolutely shocking incident on a train’ and sees Brookes take a more contemplative, less conceptual – if still pretty odd – approach Expect it to be weird and funny.
Where is it? Soho Theatre.
What is it? Nominated for Best Newcomer at this year’s Edinburgh Fringe Comedy Awards, Freddie Meredith’s Need a Light? is a by all accounts delightful hour of sketch comedy in which Meredith plays a nerdy, wannabe hip loser who spends 60 endearing minutes trying to start conversations with randoms in the smoking area of a club. The show was indeed so successful that Meredith was snapped up by SNL UK shortly after the Fringe, which has necessitated the rescheduling of his Soho run.
Where is it? Soho Theatre.
What is it? Conceptual comic Joseph Morpurgo hasn’t been totally absent this last 10 years: he recently brought back his classic 2015 show Soothing Sounds for Baby. However, Highlander 70 is his first new work in nearly a decade although you’d hardly guess it if you didn’t know: he throws himself into a show with truly esoteric subject matter with the breezy energy of a man who pumps out a weirdy Fringe show a year.
Where is it? Soho Theatre.
What is it? The Brit comedy superstar grapples with fame and fortune in his latest show, which kicks off in London in the autumn at the Apollo, heads across the country and throughout Europe, then call in at The O2 for a pre-Christmas victory lap.
Where is it? Eventim Apollo (September) and The O2 (December).
What is it? There’s something genuinely heartening about the fact that Tim Key – essentially a weird poet – has become such a big deal, in part (of course) thanks to his appearances in less poetic guise in everything from talk shows to Alan Partridge to Bong Joon Ho’s Mickey 17. He’s been touring new show Loganberry – follow up to previous hit Mulberry – for a couple of years now and it’s another good ’un, a midlife crisis show dispatched in Key’s inimitable style, prompted by his outrage when Gabby Logan invited him on her podcast about middle age.
Where is it? Soho Theatre.
What is it? Sir Lenny Henry has long since transcended being a ‘mere’ comedian – if he ever really was – with a career that has long leant more towards the stage, kids’ books and general elder statesman-ing. He’s still got it, though: aged 67 he heads out on his first stand-up tour in over a decade with Still at Large. His first since 2010, it’s billed as ‘part stand-up, part storytelling and part conversation’.
Where is it? Hackney Empire (in November).
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