Laughing Horse

Laughing Horse is a British comedy promotion company and venue operator.

The company was established in the UK in 1998,[1] and now operates venues in Aldershot, Brighton, Cirencester, Hitchin, London (Brixton, Covent Garden, Lancaster Gate, Paddington), Manchester, St Neots, Thetford and Wyboston. They run three venues at Brighton Fringe, seventeen at Edinburgh Fringe and also have a presence at the Perth, Adelaide and Melbourne Fringes.[2] It is run by Alex Petty and Kevin McCarron.[3]

At Edinburgh, they have run the Free Edinburgh Fringe Festival since 2004.[3] At these shows, audiences do not have to buy tickets. They simply pay what they choose as a donation at the end of the show.

From 2001-2018, they ran the Laughing Horse New Act of the Year competition, which was won by several famous British comedians at early stages of their career. For that reason, it has been called "a big deal to British newcomers".[4] Greg Davies won the competition on his fourth ever gig, and Russell Kane won it within the first six months of his career. Others to have won or made the final include Rhod Gilbert, Nina Conti, Jack Whitehall and Carl Donnelly.[5][6] The company also run comedy training courses.

New Act of the Year Winners & finalists

The Edinburgh Fringe

Laughing Horse run numerous venues at The Edinburgh Fringe under the name The Free Edinburgh Fringe Festival [14] with past acts including Joel Dommett, Paul McAffrey, Ahir Shah, and Sean Mcloughlin. In 2011, Imran Yusuf was the first show on a free venue to be nominated for the Edinburgh Comedy Awards Best Newcomer prize.[15]

Ahir Shah's Edinburgh shows on The Free Festival in 2017 and 2018 were both nominated for the Edinburgh Comedy Award.

In 2022, Best in Class - a Free Fringe show since 2018 - won the Edinburgh Comedy Awards Panel Prize.

References
  1. "Comedy". Laughing Horse. Retrieved 27 March 2016.
  2. "Venues". Laughing Horse. Retrieved 27 March 2016.
  3. Monks, Rebecca (11 August 2015). "Putting on a free show at the Fringe: The highs and lows". The List. Retrieved 27 March 2016.
  4. O'Leary, Bernard (31 January 2012). "Laughing Horse New Act of the Year 2012 Quarter Finals review". The Skinny. Retrieved 27 March 2016.
  5. "New Act Competition". Laughing Horse. Retrieved 27 March 2016.
  6. "Past Years Winners and Runners-Up". Laughing Horse. Retrieved 27 March 2016.
  7. "In Pictures: Laughing Horse New Act of the Year Final". London is Funny. Retrieved 27 March 2016.
  8. "Laughing Horse New Act of 2013 Final". Chortle. 27 May 2013. Retrieved 27 March 2016.
  9. "Laughing Horse New Act of the Year 2014 Final". Chortle. 2 December 2014. Retrieved 27 March 2016.
  10. "Laughing Horse Comedian of the Year 2015". Chortle. 7 December 2015. Retrieved 27 March 2016.
  11. "New Act of the Year - Comedy Competition". Laughing Horse Comedy. Archived from the original on 9 June 2016. Retrieved 10 June 2023.
  12. "New Act of the Year - Comedy Competition". Laughing Horse Comedy. Archived from the original on 11 October 2017. Retrieved 10 June 2023.
  13. "New Act of the Year - Comedy Competition". Laughing Horse Comedy. Archived from the original on 5 April 2023. Retrieved 10 June 2023.
  14. Laughing Horse Comedy; Grubby Gibbon. "The Free Edinburgh Fringe Festival: Free Comedy, Theatre, Cabaret and much more every August". FreeFestival.co.uk. Retrieved 3 April 2019.
  15. "Hard work pays off for free comedian Imran Yusuf". BBC News. 27 August 2010.


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