Frank Skinner opened on Saturday, Alexei Sayle and Katherine Ryan played yesterday. Now comes Dropout’s UK debut, Ed Gamble, Kristen Schaal for one night only and Joe Lycett closing on 18 August. Here’s what’s worth booking.
The Roundhouse Comedy Festival is two days in and already delivering. Frank Skinner headlined the opening night on Saturday, Alexei Sayle recorded a live podcast with Diane Morgan on Sunday afternoon, and Katherine Ryan brought Judi Love, Michelle de Swarte, Lou Sanders and Jack Skipper to the Roundhouse stage Sunday evening. If you missed all of that, the good news is that the programme runs until 18 August and the most exciting shows are still ahead.
This is only the second edition of the festival, following the 2023 debut that sold out shows from James Acaster, Katherine Ryan and Ed Gamble. The 2026 version is considerably more ambitious: 18 days, more formats and, in the shape of Dropout’s first ever UK shows, something genuinely new for British comedy audiences.
Every ticket purchased directly supports the Roundhouse’s youth programme, which engages over 10,000 young people annually. Under-30s can get £5 tickets to every remaining show.
This week
Wednesday 5 August: The Adam Buxton Podcast Live with Mawaan Rizwan
Adam Buxton sits down for a live recording with Mawaan Rizwan, BAFTA-winning actor, comedian and musician who started out on YouTube and has become one of the most genuinely inventive performers of his generation. The Roundhouse is the right room for this kind of unhurried, digressive conversation.
Thursday 6 August: Sam Campbell headlines with Fern Brady, Desiree Burch and Ayoade Bamgboye, hosted by Sarah Keyworth
This is the one to book if you can only go to one show this week. Sam Campbell is the Edinburgh Comedy Award winner and Taskmaster champion whose surrealist, structurally unpredictable comedy has made him one of the most talked-about acts in the UK right now. Fern Brady, Desiree Burch and Ayoade Bamgboye alongside him is a genuinely strong bill. Down to its last few tickets.
Friday 7 August: Dropout’s Crowd Control, UK debut
Dropout, the American comedy streaming platform that grew out of CollegeHumor, is bringing three of its live shows to the UK for the first time. Crowd Control is an improvised stand-up show where the audience becomes the material: three comedians build their sets entirely from what they learn about the people in the room. Hosted by Jacquis Neal, with Sarah Keyworth, Gbemi Oladipo and Hannah Wilkes as special guests.
Saturday 8 August: Dropout’s Um, Actually
A trivia game show where contestants have to identify what’s wrong with deliberately incorrect statements about nerdy pop culture. Hosted by Ify Nwadiwe and fact-checked by Brian David Gilbert, with Aurie Styla, Ellie Gibson and Jordan Gray. If you know what Dropout is, you already want to go. If you don’t, this is the easiest entry point.
Sunday 9 August: Dropout’s Dirty Laundry
The final Dropout show, and perhaps the most purely entertaining of the three. Host Lily Du brings four guests on to anonymously share their secrets, and the panel has to guess whose confession belongs to whom. Bartender Grant O’Brien keeps things moving. The format works considerably better live than it sounds on paper.
Next week
Thursday 13 August: Ed Gamble headlines with Nick Mohammed, Jamali Maddix and Sam Nicoresti, hosted by Kiri Pritchard-McLean
Ed Gamble is one of the most reliable headliners in British comedy right now. Nick Mohammed (Celebrity Traitors, Ted Lasso) joins him alongside Edinburgh Comedy Award winner Sam Nicoresti and the always excellent Jamali Maddix, hosted by Kiri Pritchard-McLean. This is the most conventionally strong mixed bill of the festival.
Friday 14 August: Jack Rooke’s Good Grief
BAFTA-winning writer and Big Boys creator Jack Rooke brings back his debut show Good Grief for a retrospective performance, a decade after he first developed it at the Roundhouse. The full title is A Decade Retrospective of Capitalising on My Dead Dad to Varied Levels of Failure and Success, which tells you everything about the tone.
Saturday 15 August: Sara Pascoe & Friends with Harriet Kemsley, Nina Conti, John Kearns and Michael Odewale & Sunday 16 August: Vittorio Angelone & Friends with Kyla Cobbler, Troy Hawke, Janine Harouni and Micky Overman
Both & Friends nights are the festival at its most relaxed: a headliner hand-picking their favourite comedians and hosting an evening that feels genuinely different from a standard mixed bill. Nina Conti alone is worth the Saturday ticket.
The final week
Monday 17 August: Kristen Schaal: The Legend of the Crystal Shell, one night only
This is the most distinctive event of the entire festival. Kristen Schaal, best known in the UK for Bob’s Burgers, BoJack Horseman and Flight of the Conchords, brings her new comedy play to London for a single performance, co-starring her Bob’s Burgers colleague John Roberts. She hasn’t performed in London for fifteen years. The play is directed by Frank Smith, with music by Big Black Delta and support from Chloe Petts. One night only is not a marketing phrase here. Book it.
Tuesday 18 August: Joe Lycett & Friends
The festival closes with Joe Lycett hosting a night of new and experimental material alongside friends, which means the closing night will be genuinely unpredictable. The best possible way to end a comedy festival.
The London x London Take: The Roundhouse Comedy Festival is already establishing itself as one of the highlights of the London summer calendar. The Dropout shows are unmissable for anyone who knows the platform, Kristen Schaal on 17 August is the most singular event of the month, and Sam Campbell on Thursday is down to its last tickets. Book quickly.
Need to Know
- Where: Roundhouse, Chalk Farm Road, Camden, London NW1 8EH
- When: Now until 18 August 2026, most shows at 7.30pm
- Price: Varies by show; £5 tickets available for all shows for under-30s
