The Live Comedy Association (LCA) has announced that Live Comedy Day will return in 2027, following the successful launch in 2026. Billed as “the UK’s day of celebrating live comedy”, Live Comedy Day 2027 is being produced by the LCA in partnership with BBC Radio 4 and with funding from Arts Council England. The project will take place across the UK on Thursday 1st April 2027 and the LCA is hosting some in person events later this year for people who want to take part to find out more. The first event is taking place on 18th November in Manchester and the second will be on 1st December in London. There will also be an online session on 24th November at 5pm. Further details about the events, including details of how to book a place, are available by visiting www.livecomedyassociation.co.uk/events
In 2026 more than 120 comedians performed in venues across the UK. Performers included John Bishop, James Acaster, Zoe Lyons, and Shaparak Khorsandi delivering over 5,850 minutes of live comedy. Venue ranged from Edinburgh in the north to Plymouth in the south, and included Komedia (Bath), The Comedy Store (London), London Palladium, the Glee Club (Birmingham & Glasgow), and the Frog & Bucket (Manchester). Participating promoters included Live Nation, Berk’s Nest, Jokes On Us, Avalon, Plosive Live, Blue Book, PBJ Management, Funny Women, Mick Perrin Worldwide and Gobby Girl Productions.
Jessica Toomey, co-Chair of Live Comedy Association said “we were delighted with the response we received to Live Comedy Day 2026 and with the number of promoters, comedians and producers who got involved. The project was featured on every BBC local radio station as well as coverage on BBC Radio 4, BBC TV and other media. We are proud to announce Live Comedy Day will return in 2027 with support from many partners including Arts Council England. With the support of comedians, promoters and venues across the UK we hope it will be bigger and better than before and enable us to shout more loudly about the amazing grassroots live comedy sector we have in the UK, and why it needs to be recognised as an essential part of the creative industries.”
The inaugural Live Comedy Day was backed by comedians including Joe Lycett, Nish Kumar, Maisie Adam, Sindhu Vee and Chris McCausland and other supporters including Dame Caroline Dinenage MP, Julia McKenzie (BBC), Sara Wajid (Birmingham Museums Trust), and Mark Davyd (Music Venues Trust) - all championing the people and places that keep live comedy thriving. Joe Lycett said “Live Comedy Day is very important. It’s important to support grassroots venues. We need more, small, brilliant little comedy clubs to learn your craft, to bring new talent up and maybe see some people you have seen off the telly in small, intimate environments. It’s really important. We’re losing small comedy clubs and we need to keep them!”
Other project partners for Live Comedy Day 2027 include Equity, Multitude Media, Nephew Media, BBC Local and Eventotron.
