Glasgow International Comedy Festival (GICF) will be bringing 560 shows to 40 venues across Scotland\u2019s largest city from 11 to 29 March. The lineup runs the gamut from familiar faces off the telly (think Rosie O\u2019Donnell, Harry Enfield, Ruby Wax) and some of the most established standups working right now (Tim Key, Bridget Christie, Alan Davies) to social media sensations (Zara Gladman,\u00a0Connor Burns, Kyla Cobbler) and many of the most exciting standups around.<\/p>\n
The word international may be in the title, but one of the aims of GICF is to showcase local talent, and the 2026 lineup features plenty of Scottish comics. Daniel Sloss<\/strong> is one of the headline acts with his brand new show, Bitter\u00a0(SEC Armadillo, 28 Mar). Rosco McClelland<\/strong>, last year\u2019s winner of the festival\u2019s Billy Connolly Spirit of Glasgow Award<\/a>, returns with his Fringe hit How Could Hell Be Any Worse?\u00a0(\u00d2ran M\u00f3r, 29 Mar). Christopher Macarthur-Boyd<\/strong> also brings his celebrated Fringe show Howling at the Moon\u00a0(King’s Theatre, 19 Mar), while his Here Comes the Guillotine co-host Susie McCabe<\/strong> presents her new show,\u00a0Coming of Rage\u00a0(King’s Theatre, 27 & 28 Mar). Other Scottish acts to look out for include Marjolein Robertson<\/strong>, who\u2019s bringing her two most recent Fringe shows, Lein and O\u00a0(\u00d2ran M\u00f3r, 17 & 18 Mar), and Chewin’ the Fat legend Karen Dunbar<\/strong>, who takes to the Citizens Theatre stage with\u00a0Glesga Special\u00a0(25 Mar).<\/p>\n Glasgow International Comedy Festival is also a great chance to catch up with some of the best acts from last year\u2019s Edinburgh Fringe. One of the most in-demand shows should be Sam Nicoresti<\/strong>\u2019s brilliant Baby Doomer\u00a0(Old Hairdresser’s, 13 Mar), which won the Best Show prize at the Edinburgh Comedy Awards. There\u2019s also the second standup hour from Jordan Gray<\/strong>, titled Is That a C*ck in Your Pocket, or Are You Just Here to Kill Me?\u00a0(The Stand, 16 Mar); Kim Blythe<\/strong>‘s second Fringe hour\u00a0Cowboy\u00a0(Citizens Theatre, 20 Mar);\u00a0John Tothill<\/strong>‘s much acclaimed This Must Be Heaven\u00a0(\u00d2ran M\u00f3r, 20 Mar); Sam Lake<\/strong> with You’re Joking!? Not Another One!\u00a0(Blackfriars, 18 Mar); and Ayo Adenekan<\/strong> with his celebrated Edinburgh Fringe debut, Black Mediocrity\u00a0(The Stand, 18 Mar). If you missed any of those shows at Edinburgh last year, be sure to catch them in Glasgow.<\/p>\n Adenekan will also be putting on a work-in-progress show (Gael & Grind, 21 Mar) and he\u2019s not the only performer using GICF as an opportunity to try out new material. Other performers with WIP shows to check out include Kiri Pritchard-McLean<\/strong>, Catherine Bohart<\/strong>, Jin Hao Li<\/strong>, Olga Koch<\/strong>, Josh Glanc<\/strong>, Rachel Fairburn<\/strong>, Celya AB<\/strong>, Milo Edwards<\/strong>, Sophie Duker <\/strong>and\u00a0Jessie Cave<\/strong>\u00a0to name just a few.<\/p>\n