Birmingham Comedy Festival 2020

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by David Vincent (subscribe)

Occasional blogger and sometimes freelance writer, hammering away in the West Midlands.

Published October 2nd 2020

Famed annual comedy festival returns with a few surprises

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Birmingham Comedy Festival 2020

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Birmingham's long-running comedy festival returns for 2020 with a special "(mostly) online" edition.

Running until Sunday 11 October 2020, the programme consists of chats, new commissions, streamed shows and more.

Key events include the festival's very first online sketch show, inventively titled The Sketch Show. Featuring appearances from Josh Pugh, impro' group Jumprov, Craig Deeley, Linda Hargreaves (as Shyrell Torks), and Harvey Hawkins, plus Mary Flanigan and Celya AB, Episode One is available now:

Episode Two is available from Friday 9 October.

The festival is also exploring the theory that Charlie Chaplin was born in a Black Country park in another video ...

Following the Black Patch visit, the festival has a new commission lined-up with Black Country musician Dan Whitehouse.

Dan, who is signed to Reveal Records (hope to Lau and Joan As Police Woman), has composed a brand new score to Chaplin's 1916 silent comedy, The Vagabond.

Other highlights include a run of podcasts by Mrs Barbara Nice, a chat with cult Brum band The Nightingales (Stewart Lee's favourite band) and a series of radio shows on Switch Radio entitled Objectivity which finds guests - including BBCWM's Daz Hale - discuss personal items.

Comedians Richard Dadd and Mary Flanigan are streaming their show, Spooktacular, via Twitch.

Also appearing over the run of the fest' are Laura Lexx and Carl Donnelly, who'll be taking part in James Cook's Board Game Smackdown, and streaming shows from Maureen Younger, and Mary Flanigan and Richard Dadd.

Robert Lloyd and The Nightingales - comedian Stewart Lee loves them so much, he's made a film about them.

With something happening each day, the majority of films, streams, and podcasts will remain available for free, and on-demand, after the festival.

To help raise funds to cover the cost of their cancelled city-wide venue-based festival programme, the volunteer-led and unfunded event has also launched a range of merchandise, including t-shirts, bags, hoodies, stickers and more.

For more details, head over to bhamcomfest.co.uk

All online activities are totally free, but donations are encouraged.