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’.

Tom Rhodes
Tom Rhodes is many things: An actor, a podcaster, a travel writer. Above all though, he is a top notch comedian, currently celebrating his fourth decade in stand-up. It’s a career which has produced numerous specials; several albums; the sitcom Mr Rhodes; and a late-night talk show. As The New York Times said, Rhodes possesses “a mostly natural intellect with a knack for reporting the harsh realities of life with a dark and absurdly optimistic cynicism.”

Emma Doran
Smash hit Irish comedian, best-selling author, podcast host and viral online star Emma Doran is bringing her brand-new stand-up show Emmaculate to Galway Comedy Festival.

There’s no such thing as a perfect family, but she wouldn’t want one anyway…

The many trials and tribulations of Emma’s blended family are laid bare, womanhood examined, and relationships put to the test in this witty, rambunctious show from one of Ireland’s most beloved stand-ups. Strap in for a night to remember, jam-packed with razor-sharp observations, riotous on-stage antics and conspiratorial gossipmongering.

As seen and heard on No Worries If Not! (RTÉ 2), The Tommy Tiernan Show (RTÉ 1), LOL: Last One Laughing (Prime Video) hosted by Graham Norton, The Late Late Show (RTÉ), Celebrity Gogglebox (Virgin Media One), Modern Love(Prime Video) alongside Kit Harington, The Deirdre O’Kane Show (SKY), Bridget and Eamon (RTÉ), Callan Kicks(RTÉ), Republic Of Telly (RTÉ) and Irelands Fittest Family (RTÉ), while her podcast credits include: You’re Groundedwith daughter Ella, And Another Thing! with Muireann O’ Connell and the four-part series Mischief Makers.

Emma currently co-hosts the podcast Keep It Tight alongside fellow stand-up and LOL: Last One Laughing contestant Deirdre O’Kane. Emma is also author of best-selling book, Mad, Isn’t It? (published in 2024).

Glenn Wool
Glenn Wool is “effortlessly funny with an affability that other comics can only dream of” (The Guardian), an “edgy, imaginative, funny and original who sets the standards at the Fringe” (Daily Telegraph). This comedic ability has seen Glenn perform in Australia, New Zealand, USA, South Africa, Europe, Singapore, and even Saudi Arabia. He was nominated for Best International Stand Up at The New Zealand Comedy Awards and twice for Best Headliner at the Chortle Awards. A huge music fan, he has also played Reading, Leeds, Download & Glastonbury Festivals.

John Colleary
As a stand-up, a writer, and an actor, John Colleary is a man very much in demand. A favourite at Ireland’s top comedy clubs and festivals for his stand-up, he also co-wrote and starred in the IFTA nominated RTÉ shows, The Savage Eye and Irish Pictorial Weekly. Other TV credits include appearances on Stand & Deliver – Live from Róisín Dubh, The Panel, and being one third of The Gusset Brothers on The Tommy Tiernan Show. He also scooped an IMRO Award for his topical sketches on Today FM’s The Last Word.

David McSavage
David McSavage has never been afraid of being controversial. “If you’re always worried about being canceled, it shows you’re not confident enough in your own material,” he told Letrim Live. Whether it’s musing while strumming a guitar, wandering off on a mind-bending tangent, or delivering his singular perspective on the world, McSavage’s sharp wit always ensures a memorable night of quality comedy. Best known for his award-winning TV show, The Savage Eye, he returns to #GCF25 with a new stand-up show.

Karl Spain
There is no better MC in Ireland than Karl Spain, and often no better night of comedy than Galway Comedy Festival’s Late Night KARLnival! The show, where comedians perform their darker, edgier material – and you never know who will turn up on the night – in front of Galway’s hardcore comedy fans is both institution and unmissable event.

Karl has worked with some of the world’s greatest comedians, including a massive 2022 tour with Kevin Bridges. Over the last decade or so, he has often written for so many comedians, so you’ve been laughing at his jokes without even realising it!

DOORS: 22:30 | SHOW: 23:00 | Age 18+