Join Seann Walsh, Isy Suttie, Sara Pascoe, Deborah Frances-White and more for the return of Farm Africa’s Laughing Season

Farm Africa’s Laughing Season charity comedy gig is back with the cream of the stand-up crop for a night of full-on belly laughs at The Backyard Comedy Club, London on 15 November to support Farm Africa’s mission to promote sustainable agriculture, strengthen markets and protect the environment in rural Africa.

A host of comedy talent will be raising funds and laughs on the night, including Seann Walsh, Isy Suttie, Sara Pascoe, Deborah Frances-White, Glenn Moore, Garrett Millerick, Ahir Shah, Pierre Novellie, Rachel Fairburn and Eleanor Tiernan all taking to the east end stage plus more acts to be announced.

We will have musical comedian, actress and star of British sitcom ‘Peep Show’, Isy Suttie, with us for the evening. Isy has won the Gold Sony Radio Academy Award for her radio show, Pearl & Dave on BBC Radio 4. Her TV acting credits also include Esther in Shameless, and she has been nominated for three British Comedy Awards.

Described as ‘the best observational comedian of his generation’ (The Guardian), Seann Walsh’s extensive TV appearances include ‘Live At The Apollo’, ‘Tonight at The London Palladium’, ‘Celebrity Juice’, ‘Play To The Whistle’, ‘8 Out of 10 Cats’, ‘Chatty Man’ and he is a regular guest on ‘The Jonathan Ross Show’.

Acclaimed writer, comedian and actor, Sara Pascoe will join us on the night with her much-loved savvy anecdotes. Sara’s extensive TV appearances and credits include ‘Live At The Apollo’, ‘QI’, ‘Frankie Boyle’s New World Order’, ‘Taskmaster’ and many more. Her second book, ‘Sex Power Money’, was a Sunday Times best seller, and the accompanying podcast of the same name garnered millions of listeners and multiple award nominations during its run.

Best known for her hit podcast ‘The Guilty Feminist’, Deborah Frances-White is a comedian, screenwriter and Edinburgh Fringe regular. With 80 million downloads, Deborah’s ‘The Guilty Feminist’ podcast has won multiple awards, while her quick wit and warm and friendly style combined with her passion for justice, fairness and inclusion make her a formidable comedian.

Get ready for plenty of jokes with one of the best and most prolific joke writers in the country, Glenn Moore. A regular face on TV, you may recognise Glenn from ‘Mock the Week’, Rob Delaney’s ‘Stand Up Central’ and ‘The Stand Up Sketch Show’. He is also a host on Absolute Radio’s ‘The Dave Berry Breakfast Show’, and has earned a huge following on Twitter thanks to his silly, off-beat one-liners.

Your MC for the evening is “brutally funny” (Chortle) Garrett Millerick; acclaimed stand-up comedian, writer, director and co-host of hit podcast ‘Laughable’. Garrett has established a reputation as one of the finest live acts of his generation, having performed stand-up on the hit US late-night talk show ‘Conan’.

Also taking to the east end stage is Ahir Shah, a fast-rising star, twice nominated for an Edinburgh Comedy Award. Ahir will bring along his signature blend of philosophical inquiry, personal examination, and sweet gags. As seen on ‘Mock The Week’, ‘Live At the Apollo’, ‘Have I Got News For You’ and ‘The Mash Report’, the Telegraph call Ahir ‘howlingly funny’.

Look forward to lots of belly laughs from South African born Pierre Novellie, whose credits include ‘The Mash Report’, BBC Radio 4’s ‘The Now Show’ and co-host of the hit podcast ‘BudPod’ (with Phil Wang). An acclaimed live act, Pierre supported Frank Skinner on his West End run at the Garrick Theatre as well as his national tour.

Mancunian Rachel Fairburn promises dark humour, a bit of filth and probably some misplaced outrage under the Laughing Season spotlight. Co-host and co-writer of the worldwide smash hit podcast ‘All Killa No Filla’ with over a quarter of a million listeners and growing, Rachel featured in Chortle’s ‘One to Watch’ list in 2020.

Hailing from Ireland, Eleanor Tiernan will take to the Backyard Comedy Club stage with her “deceptively sharp” (Fest Mag) style. Eleanor ditched a career in civil engineering to tell jokes to strangers. She is now considered one of the fastest rising comic stars in Ireland, having featured on BBC3’s ‘Stand Up for Live Comedy’ and Comedy Central’s ‘The Alternative Comedy Experience’.

Tickets are available from the Design My Night website. 

Farm Africa’s CEO Dan Collison says ‘Farm Africa’s fundraising has taken a big hit over the pandemic including last year’s Laughing Season shows, so we are delighted to finally bring this event back and celebrate comedy with a live audience. We’re really grateful to everyone who’ll be joining us on the night and to the comedians for giving up their time and sharing their talent to support Farm Africa.’

Funds raised from the show will support Farm Africa projects across eastern Africa. Farm Africa reduces poverty by helping farmers in eastern Africa to grow more, sell more and sell for more. With our help, rural families are growing their incomes while also protecting their local environment for generations to come.

More acts to be announced. Line-up subject to change.