Feature: 2024’s Comedy Gold

Alex Finch looks at some of the best stand up, music, clowning, and sketch groups of 2024

Scripted comedy on TV has all but dried up in the UK of late, with OFCOM describing the genre as “at risk” for the sixth year running. It makes no sense either, as the live comedy scene is bursting with talent, a glorious mix of traditional stand up, songs, clowning, sketch groups and interactive shows, many of which blew me away.

The best of the best of those was Julia Masli‘s Ha Ha Ha at the Soho Theatre, which she’s been performing for over a year, and will be doing again in January 2025. It’s also one of the hardest shows to describe as it’s such an unusual creation, but to break it down to its simplest level, Masli says to individual members of the audience the word “Problem?”, and then does her best to solve any and all suggestions. It’s how I ended up with a four inch chunk of another man’s hair taped to my head for the hour, an exhausted teacher was led to a bed and given a mask and headphones to help her drift off, and another individual spent the hour on stage with a laptop helping Julia solve more complex issues. I’m fully aware that this sounds quite mad, and hey, it probably is, but it was frequently hilarious, yet also surprisingly profound, and deserves every five star review it has received.

A more conventional show came from Amy Gledhill, who’s also one half of the sublime sketch group The Delightful Sausage, and who deservedly won the Edinburgh Comedy Award this year. In an hour of stories which are brutally honest about her love life, some of which she’s clearly mortified about, Amy has such a unique turn of phrase that the jokes are consistently laugh out loud. It’s a show I rated 5 stars even though it was billed as a work in progress at the time.

Somehow I’d never seen Nish Kumar until this summer, but Nish Don’t Kill My Vibe was so good I’ve found myself attempting to build a time machine, despite failing GCSE physics. That borders on hyperbole, admittedly, but it was one of those shows that I wanted to tell everyone I’ve ever met – and ever will meet – about, as his angry, impassioned comedy hit home so often and made me laugh so hard. The same applied with Two Hearts, the New Zealand band made up of real life couple Laura Daniels and Joseph Moore. Sitting in the front row in the downstairs bar at their Soho Theatre show has never been more fun, and they’ve produced not only funny but insanely catchy songs that I found myself listening to on Spotify over and over again.

There were a good few other shows that I’d also rate 5 stars, including Ian Lane‘s PowerPoint filled delight Truuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu, Colin Hoult‘s first foray into autobiographical comedy, Colin, Jessie Cave‘s startlingly honest An Ecstatic Display, and Jin Hao Li‘s hilariously lowkey absurdity, which has already garnered him a large fanbase. And also incredibly memorable were Matt Ewins’ demented game show Danger Money, Emma Sidi‘s mad old take on Sue Gray, Ben Volchok‘s absurdist masterpiece The Ceremony, Nic Sampson‘s true tales of his time as a Power Ranger, and Judd Apatow‘s questionably libellous gossipy set at ABC Comedy.

Finally I’ve caught shows or shorter sets from the likes of Sam Campbell, James Acaster, Crybabies, Elf Lyons, Tim Key, Kathy Maniura, Holly Spillar, Lou Wall, Steen Raskopoulis, Hannah Platt, Olga Koch, Marjolene Robertson, Anirban Dasgupta, Stevie Martin, Police Cops, Rob Copland, and Kiri Pritchard-McLean, all of whom come with the highest of recommendations.

Whilst we haven’t reveiwed too many stand up shows. we do sneak into the occasional one when the invites come in. So if you want the chance to see some next year, or anything else that might appear on the London stage, then we’re always seeking new reviewers. Interested? Then you can find out what’s involved and how to apply here.