The live comedy circuit has never exactly been known as a beacon of diversity. For decades, the stand-up scene was male-dominated and inaccessible to anyone otherwise. Ask many people to name their favourite comics, and their lists likely would have consisted only of white men.
While these kinds of comedy fans still exist – sometimes, I feel, purely to torment me on first dates – they’ve got no excuse. Right now, the most exciting voices on the scene have pushed through from backgrounds previously underrepresented in the field, bringing fresh perspectives, no fear when it comes to cracking jokes about their identities and simply the different ways in which they see the world.
Below, you’ll find five of the most exciting comedy talents to keep an eye out for in 2024 and beyond...
1. Frankie Thompson
Comedian, clown and theatre artist: Thompson is one multi-talented performer. The British creative first gained recognition at the 2022 Edinburgh Fringe with her hard-to-describe solo show CAttS. Picture this: an hour-long lip-sync extravaganza about all things feline, set to an unrelenting soundscape of The Apprentice quotes and Andrew Lloyd Webber songs. Sounds weird? You have no idea. Yet Thompson emerged from the Fringe with swathes of new supporters, returning the following year with Body Show, a co-production with partner Liv Ello about gender, health and, well, bodies. Her new show, Frankie Thompson Collects Horrible Things, plays at London’s Soho Theatre this summer; keep your eyes peeled (and whiskers trimmed) to see what she does next.
2. Fathiya Saleh
Saleh is one of the most underrated yet exciting performers on London’s live standup scene. I first saw her comic performance at the Funny Women Awards final in 2022, and was instantly won over by her charm and ease as she joked about her experiences as a young Muslim woman. “I like guys who wear watches on their wrist that tell them the time, but the guys that like me wear watches on their ankle that tell them what time to go home,” she quips in one routine, pausing only to snort-laugh at her own jokes. Luckily for Saleh, it’s utterly endearing; if you were this funny, you’d laugh too.
3. Patti Harrison
To casual fans, US comedian Harrison is best known for TV comedies (Shrill, I Think You Should Leave), as well as a scene-stealing supporting role in blockbuster The Lost City. But the real heads know Harrison as an unpredictable, deranged (in a good way) performer who is unafraid to push gags about sex, gender and the body to grotesque extremes. The title of her last special, My Huge Tits Huge Because They Are Infected NOT FAKE!, says it all; when it comes to Harrison, expect the unexpected.
4. Amy Gledhill
Standup comedy takes a hell of a lot of bravery, but few performers feel as effortlessly confident with a mic in hand as Gledhill. The British comic is an expert in mining her past experiences for self-deprecatory lols and is happy to paint herself as an underdog – after all, she built an entire special around the theory that her exes all break up with her, then immediately marry the next person they date. Her new show, Make Me Look Fit On The Poster, proves that Gledhill’s progressed in some ways. Self-confidence and romance are new topics for her to explore on stage, but even when things haven’t been quite so rosy, there’s no chance of you pitying Gledhill; with her tight joke writing and sharp delivery, she always comes out a winner.
5. Sophie Duker
Duker is a seriously smart comedian. Powered by natural wit, her jokes are full of sharp observations and clever pay-offs, whether she’s riffing about her childhood years in Ghana, her identity as a queer woman (as hinted at in the title of her latest show, BUT DADDY I LOVE HER) or Meghan Markle. She’s also a seasoned comedy compere, having run her own comedy club showcasing comedians of Colour titled Wacky Racists in London. After all, as Duker puts it, it’s her duty to tell jokes with the confidence of a cis straight middle-class white man.
Isobel Lewis is a culture journalist based in London, who specialises in stand-up comedy. She writes for publications including The New York Times, The Guardian and Time Out
