The Skinny's Comedy Forecast for 2024

This will be my first time attending the Glasgow International Comedy Festival and I’m excited to see Big, If True with Casey Patmore and George Anderson. Closer to home, I'm snatching up tickets for several solo shows at Monkey Barrel – Krystal Evans, Josh Glanc, and Olga Koch in particular! I missed their shows at the Fringe and will *not* be wasting this second chance to see them. [Sofia Reyes Valencia]

The wait for season 4 of the irreverently violent The Boys has felt like a lifetime. Luckily, it won’t be too much longer until I am once more crooned at by Karl Urban’s dodgy British accent, and get to see what new lows the show’s villain, Homelander, stoops to next! So long as there’s no more breast-feeding.

And, after being starved of the joys of The Delightful Sausage at Fringe 2023, it’s a relief to know the duo has more brewing. Icklewick FM is their new Radio 4 sitcom about a fictional, dysfunctional northern radio station – promising appearances from a series of beloved British comedy characters. Set to be broadcast this month, it’ll give you a mucky, hysterical start to the year. [Yasmin Hackett]

Josie Long has a string of stand-up gigs starting in January called A Work in Progress About Giant Extinct Animals – I personally can't wait for some silly, informal fun with the promise of some dinosaurs or mammoths thrown in. Also, an honourable mention to season 2 of Jack Rooke's pitch-perfect sitcom Big Boys, which is the most accurate portrayal of non-Russell Group uni life I've seen on-screen and the best British sitcom since Derry Girls. [Louis Cammell]

The Free Association (London-based improv theatre/school, often about during the Fringe) have announced they're expanding to Glasgow this year. More shows and classes will be exciting but the fact they've chosen Glasgow out of all the cities in the UK says a lot about the quality of the existing scene (Glasgow Improv Theatre, thank you). I'm glad people can see it as a hub for comedy in a way that's completely independent to the Fringe, especially for an art form that doesn't have much of a hold in the UK to begin with. [Laurie Presswood]

I’m very excited about Jessica Fostekew’s new show Mettle (Monkey Barrel, 5 Mar); and the long-anticipated season 2 of Nida Manzoor’s We Are Lady Parts. Lauren Oyler’s collection of essays, No Judgement, is also a big moment: expect mordantly funny cultural commentary and incisive literary analysis. The biggest cultural event of the year, though, for me, is Miranda July’s new novel, All Fours. Her first novel, The First Bad Man, is a comic and erotic masterpiece, and the new novel will doubtless be just as singularly brilliant. [Emma Sullivan]

I’m looking forward to catching Leslie Liao and Sikisa’s sets in Glasgow this March. Making waves on the other side of the Atlantic, Liao’s deadpan, dry delivery and style has had me cackling. I can’t wait to catch her set The Nighttime Routine, about the ‘life and loves of a single Chinese-American woman living in LA’. Meanwhile, South Londoner Sikisa’s infectious charisma made her 2022 Fringe set, which tackled big topics from immigration to gender roles, a standout. Her new show, Hear Me Out, is based around a relatable premise – saying the wrong thing at the wrong time – and looks like a must-see. [Anita Bhadani]

The Office is arriving in Australia with a cast led by Felicity Ward (Edinburgh Comedy Award nominee). This fresh remake of the influential mockumentary updates the workplace to suit the 'post' pandemic era. Just as Steve Carrell made the character of Michael Scott his own in The Office USA, Ward will be hoping to do the same with Hannah Howard. Ward is renowned for her comedic candour, often uncovering her most cringeworthy moments on stage. Her portrayal of the oblivious and self-absorbed branch manager looks set to be a defining moment. [Ben Venables]

Out of everything billed for 2024, I’ve spotted Amy Gledhill’s got a few WIPs in the diary so I’m dead excited to see brand-spanking-new stuff from her, alongside whatever insane concoction of anti-comedy Sam Campbell’s whipped up for Wobservations, his first UK tour. Oh! And a new show from Fern Brady!

Over on the small screen though, I’m intrigued by Daddy Issues, a recently announced sitcom from writer and stand-up Danielle Ward, starring Sex Education’s Amy Lou Wood and David Morrissey. [Polly Glynn]