Balham Comedy Festival, now longer & bigger.

This July sees Balham’s legendary comedy venue, the Bedford, host its 8^th Balham Comedy Festival. Treats for this year include as always, the opportunity to see a shining collection of comedy stars in a newly refurbished pub, now with a longer running time of 9 nights.

The line up this year includes household names such as Al Murray, Marcus Brigstocke, Ed Byrne and Milton Jones. Personally, I’ll be rushing to buy tickets for Simon Evans, who’s ‘Simon Evans Goes To Market’ series on Radio 4 has been one of the highlights of my listening year. I’m also a great fan of Omid Djalili and have nearly everyone of Milton Jones’s radio series, so I can see that this will be an expensive 9 days for me.

Not to be caught slacking the ‘Best of Banana Cabaret,’ will also be boasting some big names as well as fresh talent, with 20-minute sets from such luminaries as Stephen K. Amos and Shappi Khorsandi. This is a great way of sampling talent from the familiar to the newly discovered.

The Bedford’s makeover not only includes décor and air conditioning but also a new menu which make it the ideal choice for pre-comedic dining. Tickets will go on sale to the general public from Monday June the 3^rd, and the full line up and more information can be found here, balhamcomedyfestival.com

With a great line up, an improved venue and longer to enjoy it, about the only bad thing about the Balham comedy festival is that it still only comes once a year. See you at the Bedford!.

The Balham comedy festival takes place from Friday the 5^th of July through to Saturday the 13^th at The Bedford public house, 77 Bedford Hill, Balham, London SW12 9HD. For further information including complete line up and timings go to balhamcomedyfestival.com.