Imagine such seasoned comedy pros as Jack Dee, Dylan Moran, and Omid Djalili, and fast-rising stars like Aoife Dunne and Rachel Galvo all in one city during the same week? That’s not a comedy dream, it's a comedy dream-bill come true as Galway Comedy Festival 2025 hosts solo shows by all five during the Festival’s Tuesday 21 October to Monday 27 October run. Discover more here...
Some are long-established legends, others are exciting new comedy queens. All are comedians on peak form, bringing their new touring shows to Galway, giving fans the chance to enjoy a full, uninterrupted hour of some of the best stand-up you will hear all year.
As the world is a very frightening place at the moment, Jack Dee is providing the perfect escape plan with Small World (Thursday 23rd October, Black Box Theatre, 7.30pm) and his vow not to mention culture wars, the climate crisis, British foreign policy, or social justice. As Jack told The Sun: “The kind of comedy I like is when you focus on minutiae and become more and more silly with it.” So in this show, Jack will explore his fascination with meaningless small things like Zoom protocol, new radiators, and the world’s worst careers advice office. Sounds like just the respite we need.
DOLLA HO, the latest stand-up show from Dylan Moran (Thursday 23rd October, Raheen Woods Hotel, 7pm; Friday 24th October, Black Box Theatre, 7pm), is a distillation of the finest comedic ingredients harvested from the brilliant mind of one of Ireland’s most singular and original comics. The material arose from Dylan’s 2024 ‘Work In Progress Wander’ tour, which saw him try out new material across 50 different shows in 35 towns. In DOLLA HO, it has been aged to perfection, ready for Galway to taste and enjoy.
It's been a few years since Omid Djalili was last in Galway, so it’s great to say he is the opening solo act of GCF25 with his new show, Namaste (Tuesday 21st October, Town Hall Theatre, 7pm). Namaste sees the Persian comedy powerhouse peacefully bow to his inner anger to unleash a torrent of comedic vitriol upon the current state of this dangerously messed-up planet. No government gets a green card. No tyrant avoids a take-down. No audience member leaves the theatre with an ounce of laughter left in them...you have been warned.
Rachel Galvo is a genuine overnight sensation. She had the idea of combining her two passions - Feminism and Comedy - into a debut solo show, The Shite Feminist, and it took off like wildfire across Ireland and Britain, culminating in a sold-out Olympia and a breakout run at the 2024 Edinburgh Fringe. “Part of me can’t imagine there are thousands of humans buying tickets to see me,” Rachel admitted, but her comedy is the reason why. She’s already sold out one show at GCF25, so get your tickets now for her newly added show (Wednesday 22nd October, Róisín Dubh, 9.30pm).
Galwegian Aoife Dunne describes herself as an “absolute dose”. It’s more correct to say she’s an absolute tonic. Her magnificent spoken word piece on Instagram, ‘Conor McGregor Is Not Irish’, will feed the mind and swell the heart, while her acclaimed debut solo show, Good Grief, is striking a deep chord with audiences. Coming to #GCF25, Good Grief (Sunday 26th October, Town Hall Theatre, 7pm) sees Aoife deal with the death of her mother and how she rebuilt her life after that painful loss. As Chortle said, it may be a “dark subject for comedy, but...Dunne beams with scintillating light when recounting the stories around it...the eventual healing process sitting next to the hilarious stand-up.”
Still looking for more solo show recommendations? There are a handful of tickets left to Rhod Gilbert’s Rhod Gilbert & The Giant Grapefruit (Wednesday 22nd October, Leisureland, 7pm), looking at what happened when life gave this Welsh comedy sensation lemons; Rich Hall, the eternally grouchy cowboy who is an eternal friend of the Festival (Tuesday 21st October, Róisín Dubh, 7.30pm); and David McSavage (“If you’re always worried about being canceled...you’re not confident enough in your own material,” as he told Leitrim Live) with The Occasional Ride (Sunday 26th October, Pálás, 4pm).
And finally, as Galway Comedy Festival loves to spoil its audiences for choice, there are solo shows from Micky Bartlett, the Lurgan Legend himself; the “smart, funny, and crude” Kai Humphries; Belfast taximan turned comedian Paddy McDonnell; Sharon Mannion, admired by Deirdre O’Kane and Neil Delamere; Aideen McQueen, with her latest show, Waiting for Texto; and the irrepressible force of nature that is Hector Ó hEochagáin.
For more information and tickets, see www.GalwayComedyFestival.ie.
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