Galway Comedy Festival is bursting at the seams with comedy brilliance, all part of a 70-strong line-up of international stars, homegrown comedy greats, and emerging talent, playing 69 shows across 16 venues over 7 days and nights. You’d best start planning your week of ‘carefully curated craic’.

Aaron Berg
Aaron performs stand-up every single night in New York City and remarkably, no two sets are the same. Combining sharp wit, high energy, and an undeniable ability to bring every show to a crescendo of laughter, he packs in more punchlines per minute than most. This Toronto-born comic is best known for creating 25 Sets, his world record breaking documentary about stand-up comedy. He has also appeared in films such as The Kitchen with Melissa McCarthy and The Lookout with Joseph Gordon Levitt, Jeff Daniels and Isla Fisher. A phenomenon in NYC, you have to see him in Galway.

Paddy McDonnell
From his days as a taximan in West Belfast, Paddy has amassed an array of stories that have fuelled his comedy and delighted audiences across Ireland and Britain. Fresh off the success of three sold-out SSE Arenas in 2023 and 2024, Paddy McDonnell is back with his brand-new show, DAGGER, coming to Galway Comedy Festival this October. DAGGER dives into the hilarious chaos of Paddy’s legendary stag do in Spain, with stories so outrageous they’ve already gone viral on podcasts and social media.

Taran O’Sullivan
Since reaching the semi-finals of the 2020 Funny Women competition, Taran has been a rising comedy star, known for her fearless storytelling, razor-sharp wit, and brilliantly chaotic charm. Her new solo show, Lock Up Your Uncles, dives into the hilarious and horrifying realities of family, womanhood, and everything in between. Bold, unfiltered, and wildly relatable — Taran is one to watch (and definitely one to lock up your uncles for).

Jess Collins
Jess Collins describes herself as a “6ft, politically incorrect, opinionated, sometimes sexy bird, who enjoys the laughter”. In recent years she has gone from seeing her favourite Irish comics to sharing the stage with them and achieving a number of her comedy goals, such as being a Show Me The Funny finalist, playing Electric Picnic and Galway Comedy Festival – and Jess loves Galway: “What I’ve always said about Galway is the gigs lend themselves to having some of the most wonderful people in their audiences.” We couldn’t agree more.

Danny O’Brien
Want to know how good a comedian Danny O’Brien is? One of the biggest comics on the planet, Bill Burr, had this to say about him: “He opened for me at the 3Arena and f*cking murdered it!” High praise indeed, and it’s well deserved as Danny is one of the most in-demand comics on the circuit, having played every major comedy festival in Ireland and abroad, including the Edinburgh, Melbourne and Adelaide Fringe Festivals, and even the Download Heavy Metal Festival.

DOORS: 14:30 | SHOW: 15:00 | Age 16+