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THIS IS THE 2018 ARCHIVE SITE - Click here for the latest information



Principal Sponsor

Lovehoney

Strategic Partner VisitBath

Festival Sponsors & Partners

Bath BID Specsavers Abbey Hotel No.15 Great Pulteney Curo


Interested in sponsorship?
Get in touch!

Thanks to all our supporters - Click here

Help the Festival:


Proud to be UK's first F-Rated Comedy Festival. more...


Welcome to the official home of the Bath Comedy Festival

Welcome to the home of Bath Comedy - for both the Spring time Bath Comedy Festival and events throughout the year.

BATH COMEDY FESTIVAL 2019 DATES: Tues 26th March - Sun 14th April - MORE INFO VERY SOON

There's always something going on, all year round - we're programming the main festival as we speak, but have two shows to warm your winter cockles in February, and some shows are already on sale for later in the year - see our what's on pages!

Latest News

Bath Comedy Christmas Newsletter

Our latest e-newsletter contains news of February shows, two of our biggest Festival shows and some exciting news from our friends at Bath Jazz... Click here to read it.

Bath Business Awards 2018

We are delighted to announce Bath International Comedy Festival in partnership with Visit Bath was awarded the Leisure & Tourism Award at this year's Bath Business Awards. The awards are run by Bath Chronicle and the Leisure & Tourism award was presented by Tarquin McDonald, Chief Executive of Bath Rugby, who sponsored the award, at a ceremony held at the Pavilion hosted by TV star Martin Roberts.


L-R Tarquin McDonald (Bath Rugby), Les Redwood (Visit Bath), Ralph Oswick (Bath Comedy), Martin Roberts (Homes Under The Hammer), Nick Steel (Bath Comedy)

To keep up to date with the Festival, check you are on our new e-mailing list below:

Archived News

Bath Comedy Festival 2018 was our 10th birthday and in celebration we ran the Festival for 20 days, from Tuesday 27th March - Sunday 15th April 2018, and we're continuing to expand our reach and range of venues.

We're delighted to have held the most successful Festival to date, from opening night at the stunning Bath Forum to the Closing Gala at the fabulous new Apex Hotel Conference Suite and the New Act Competition Final in the ever-improving Widcombe Social Club with its newly refurbished Waterside Arts Bar.

We're creating some photo galleries which will be linked here soon, there's more info being uploaded here continually, and a brand new web site coming soon!

Bath Comedy Festival New Act Competition 2018 - Pete Latham wins inaugural Lovehoney Newcomer Award

This year's New Act Competition saw a total of 120 long-listed contenders battle it out over twelve heats and two semi-finals, with 10 finalists reaching the Grand Final, judged by a panel comprising comedy industry heavyweights including Graham Smith, Alan Nixon and Jill Edwards, plus Bath Comedy Festival Director Nick Steel. Here are the results:

First place: Pete Latham
Second place: Carl Carzana
Joint Third place: Thanyia Moore, Klaus White

Pete Latham receives the inaugural Lovehoney Newcomer Award, a cheque from Bath Comedy Festival for £250, plus a guaranteed paid appearance at next year's Gala show.

New Act Competition Winners
L-R Richard Longhurst (Lovehoney), Nick Steel (Bath Comedy), Geoff Whiting (Mirth Control), Carl Carzana, Pete Latham, Klaus White, Thanyia Moore, Les Redwood (Visit Bath)
Photo by Lloyd Ellington


The announcement was live-streamed on Twitter - click here to watch the video

A separate presentation of the trophy was made at a special gathering of Festival supporters, patrons and friends, held at The Royal Ocean Racing Club in London.

Lovehoney Newcomer Award presentation
L-R Les Redwood (Visit Bath), Geoff Whiting (Mirth Control), Nick Steel (Bath Comedy), Pete Latham, Vaneetha Balasubramanium (Lovehoney)
Photo by Kerrianne Gauld

Bath Comedy Festival announces the inaugural Lovehoney Best Joke Award

This year, Bath Comedy Festival has devised two new awards in collaboration with principal festival sponsor Lovehoney.

The inaugural Lovehoney Best Joke Award was presented at the end of the Festival's Closing Gala Show at the Apex Hotel, to Kev Sutherland, the creator of The Scottish Falsetto Sock Puppet Theatre, for the best innuendo-laden joke of the Festival.

Lovehoney Best Joke Award presentation
L-R Les Redwood (Visit Bath), Kev Sutherland, Richard Longhurst (Lovehoney), Arthur Smith, Nick Steel (Bath Comedy)
Photo by Lloyd Ellington


The presentation was live-streamed on Twitter - click here to watch the video

Nick Steel presented the award on stage joined by Lovehoney co-founder Richard Longhurst, Visit Bath business development and partnerships manager Leslie Redwood, Festival Patron and long term supporter Arthur Smith, plus President Trump (Lewis MacLeod) and HM The Queen (Ginny Adams of Rare Species)


L-R The Scottish Falsetto Sock Puppet Theatre, President Trump a/k/a/ Lewis MacLeod, HM The Queen a.k.a. Ginny Adams of Rare Species.
Photo by Lloyd Ellington


You can see the Socks tell the joke via Twitter - click here for them telling the joke in their show, and click here for a backstage version.

Lovehoney announce three year partnership with Bath Comedy Festival

LovehoneyThe Festival is delighted to announce a new partnership with Lovehoney becoming Principal Sponsor to help expand the Festival, giving ongoing support over the next three years.

Read the full story and other press releases here.

Bath Comedy Shopalong

To celebrate the 10th Anniversary of Bath Comedy Festival, Bath BID and Bath Comedy have teamed up to create an amusing trail. 30 large Bath Plug logos have been placed in a variety of central Bath establishments, either prominently displayed, or hidden somewhere inside.

Each plug displays the punchline to a numbered joke on the accompanying Shopalong map. We invite participants of all ages to collect as many of the punchlines as they can for a chance to win fabulous prizes!

The Shopalong trail form and map can be downloaded here.

For more details click here.

Bath Comedy Festival 2017 Photo Galleries

Here are some galleries we put together from last year. You don't need to have a Facebook account to view them:

2017 Bath Comedy Festival Opening Night

The Wine Arts Trail 2017

2017 New Act Competition Final

2017 Bath Plug Award - Barry Cryer

Check the what's on diary for event details and online booking links.

Sign up to the e-mailing list to be among the first to know what's happening. There is an archive of the 2016 festival and year of shows here.

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To keep up to date with the Festival join the e-mailing list below:

Read our archived e-newsletters here

 

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