The same comedy club, the same room, the same format, four nights apart. Seven pounds fifty on a Thursday if you book ahead. Twenty four pounds on a Saturday if you turn up at the door.
That is Backyard Comedy Club in Bethnal Green, and it publishes both numbers on the same page. More than three times the price for what is, from the audience seat, the same evening.
Which is the useful thing to know about booking a comedy show in London. The night of the week sets the price, not the club, and the clubs that publish the fewest rules are usually the ones that charge the most. Here is what each of them actually says.
The free one
Angel Comedy, Islington
Run by comedians, for comedians, with free stand up seven nights a week.
Angel Comedy
- Address
- Two venues: The Bill Murray at 39 Queen’s Head Street, N1 8NQ, and the Camden Head at 2 Camden Walk, N1 8DY
- Nearest
- Angel, four minutes from both
- Hours
- Free Raw nights at 7.30pm Monday to Thursday, and free Fridays at the Camden Head, also 7.30pm. Ticketed shows run alongside them from about 6.30pm
- Booking
- Through their own site. Performers email raw@angelcomedy.co.uk for spots
- Price
- The Raw nights are free. Ticketed shows are priced individually, and Patreon support starts at 2.50 pounds a month
- Standing
- Run by comedians and dedicated to affordable access, putting on more comedians a month than any other UK club
How to get in
Free seven nights a week is the headline and it is literal: the Raw nights at the Bill Murray run Monday to Thursday and the Friday show moves to the Camden Head, all at half seven, all free. The paid shows are the other half of the operation and the names on them are not small, with Stewart Lee, Simon Amstell, Bridget Christie, Nish Kumar, Mae Martin, Joe Lycett and Tim Key all listed on their own page. They also run the pipeline itself, from a comedian’s first open mic to a tour warm up, plus courses and masterclasses. Two rules are worth knowing before you plan around them. Their own advice for the free shows is to arrive half an hour to an hour early, especially at the weekend. And parties larger than four cannot attend Friday or Saturday night shows at all, because the room is small: a bigger group has to email them instead.
The cheapest professional club
Backyard Comedy Club, Bethnal Green
West End shows at East End prices, in their own words, and the only club here that publishes its whole price list.
Backyard Comedy Club
- Address
- 231 Cambridge Heath Road, Bethnal Green, E2 0EL
- Nearest
- Bethnal Green, five minutes. Cambridge Heath overground, four
- Hours
- Box office opens 6.30pm on show nights. Thursday, Friday and Saturday shows at 8pm
- Booking
- info@backyardcomedyclub.co.uk. They do not take incoming telephone calls at all
- Price
- Thursday 7.50 pounds online or 10 on the door. Friday 12.50 online or 15 on the door. Saturday 16 online or 20 to 24 on the door. Online sales close at 6pm on the day
- Standing
- Describes itself as the cheapest professional comedy club in London, and does not offer a concession price for that reason
How to get in
Two rules here cost money if you miss them. Every advance ticket has to be exchanged for a wristband in person by 7.15pm or a 3 pound late arrival fee is charged per person, and their own page says there are no exceptions. You also cannot collect a wristband for anyone not already in the building, so a group has to arrive together. Online sales stop at six on the day and anything bought at the venue afterwards is charged at full door price, which is the whole gap between 7.50 and 10. Fully accessible, all on one level with no steps. Their new act nights run from nothing to 5 pounds. Parts of the FAQ still refer to social distancing, so treat the re entry policy as worth checking.
The institution
The Comedy Store, Piccadilly
Since 1979, and still the room where the reputations are made.
The Comedy Store
- Address
- 1a Oxendon Street, Piccadilly Circus, SW1Y 4EE
- Nearest
- Piccadilly Circus, three minutes. Leicester Square, five
- Hours
- Thursday and Friday stand up at 7.30pm. Saturday runs two houses, at 6.30pm and 9.30pm. The Comedy Store Players on Sunday at 7.30pm. King Gong at 8pm and Old Rope at 7.30pm on Mondays. Doors, bar and diner open an hour before
- Booking
- Through Ticketmaster and Universe since September 2025, or the box office
- Price
- Priced by show. Concessions are available on some nights
- Standing
- Trading since 1979. 400 seats, theatre style, under a famously low ceiling
How to get in
Strictly over 18, and they ask for ID from anyone who looks under 25. The ticket rules are worth reading before you buy: tickets are not refundable but will be exchanged for another show of the same value up to 5pm on the day, or 1pm for a matinee, unless the show has sold out. For concessions the ID is checked on the door, a student card must carry an expiry date, and NHS staff need an NHS card because Blue Light cards are specifically not accepted. Saturday runs two houses, and the first one has moved earlier: half six and half nine, with doors at half five for the early show. The cloakroom is a pound an item.
What to know before you book a comedy show in London
Thursday is the same show for half the money. Backyard charge 7.50 on a Thursday and 16 on a Saturday for their own weekly bill. The Comedy Store runs its main stand up bill Thursday through Saturday too. If the night of the week is flexible, that is the single biggest saving available.
Booking ahead is a discount, not a convenience. Every Backyard price has a door price above it, and the gap is between 2.50 and 8 pounds a head. Online sales close at six on the day of the show, so the decision has to be made in the afternoon.
The late fee is real. Wristbands at Backyard stop at 7.15pm and the 3 pound charge applies per person with no exceptions published. A group that splits up on the way cannot collect for the stragglers.
Free is genuinely free, and therefore busy. Angel Comedy run free shows every night of the week across two Islington pubs and tell you to arrive half an hour to an hour early. There is no ticket to hold your seat, which is the trade.
Check which card the discount takes. The Comedy Store accept student and NHS concessions with ID checked at the door and state plainly that Blue Light cards are not accepted. Backyard do not run a concession at all and say so because they are already the cheapest.
One of them will not answer the telephone. Backyard take no incoming calls, keep no regular office hours and are only open on show days. Everything goes through email or a visit to the bar.
Everything here was taken from each club’s own published information and rechecked on 28 September 2026. Prices are theirs and exclude booking fees where they say so. Line ups change weekly, so check the specific night. Confirm before you travel.
Activity bars are the paid version of a midweek night, priced by the hour rather than by the night of the week.
Where to go next
London after dark covers the rest of the evening, and the best bars in London covers where to go once the show finishes.
The pub quiz is the free midweek alternative, and it runs on exactly the nights comedy is cheapest: Sunday to Thursday, never a Friday or Saturday.
Burlesque in London is the closest page on this site in shape: a small scene, two of its best known rooms already closed, and the listings sites still selling tickets to them. Karaoke is the other one where the published prices do not compare with each other.
By neighbourhood: Soho is the district over the road from Oxendon Street and where most people go after the half seven show, and Shoreditch is the walk west from Bethnal Green.
Live music bars in London is the other live evening with a door charge, and the charge is published in more detail: Oriole lists its cover night by night, from £4 on a Tuesday to £18 for a Saturday late set.
Questions we get asked
What are the best comedy clubs in London?
The Comedy Store on Oxendon Street by Piccadilly Circus, open since 1979 with 400 theatre style seats and the Comedy Store Players improvising every Sunday. Angel Comedy across two Islington pubs, free seven nights a week and run by comedians. Backyard Comedy Club in Bethnal Green, which calls itself the cheapest professional comedy club in London and publishes every price to prove it.
How much does a comedy club cost in London?
Anywhere from nothing to about 24 pounds, and the night matters more than the club. Angel Comedy’s Raw nights are free Monday to Friday. Backyard Comedy Club charge 7.50 online on a Thursday, 12.50 on a Friday and 16 on a Saturday, with door prices of 10, 15 and up to 24. The Comedy Store prices each show individually.
Is there free comedy in London?
Yes, and every night of the week. Angel Comedy run free Raw nights at the Bill Murray on Queen’s Head Street from Monday to Thursday at half seven, and a free Friday show at the Camden Head on Camden Walk at the same time. Both are in Islington, four minutes from Angel station. Arrive early, because a free show has no reserved seat.
What is the cheapest night for comedy in London?
Thursday, at almost every club that runs a weekly bill. Backyard Comedy Club sell a Thursday ticket at 7.50 pounds online against 16 for the identical Saturday show, and 10 against 24 if you buy on the door. Monday is cheaper still at the new act nights, which run from free to 5 pounds.
Do you need to book comedy tickets in advance in London?
It saves money rather than guaranteeing entry. Backyard charge every door price above its online price and close online sales at 6pm on the day, so anything bought later is full price. The Comedy Store hold 400 seats and sell them ahead, with a waiting list for sold out shows. Weekend shows at both fill first.
Can you get a refund on a comedy ticket in London?
At The Comedy Store, no, but you can exchange. Tickets are non refundable and will be swapped for another show of the same value if you tell the box office by 5pm on the day of the performance, or by 1pm for a matinee, unless the show has sold out. Backyard publish no refund policy on their FAQ and ask that queries go to them by email.
Written by Robert J Wills, no. 115 in the guide.
Last checked 28 September 2026 against the venues' own published information. Nobody pays to appear here and we take no bookings.
