Woolwich Works just announced a massive new comedy programme for 2026
The fringes of the fringe
Woolwich Works is making a serious play to become South East London’s next big comedy destination.
The riverside venue has just unveiled a packed comedy programme for 2026, bringing together Edinburgh Fringe previews, grassroots club nights, established stand-ups and, most notably, the arrival of the legendary Comedy Store.
The iconic comedy institution will host its first-ever Woolwich Works nights on the 11th of September and the 27th of November, marking a major expansion for one of the UK’s most influential live comedy brands. Presented by Live Nation, The Comedy Store has spent nearly four decades launching and platforming comics who’ve gone on to become household names, from Eddie Izzard and Jimmy Carr to Sarah Millican, John Bishop and Rhod Gilbert.
For Woolwich, it feels like another sign that London’s comedy scene is slowly stretching beyond the usual Soho orbit.
Before The Comedy Store arrives, the venue’s summer programme is packed with Fringe preview shows from some of the circuit’s sharpest names. Garrett Millerick and Jonny Pelham kick things off on the 21st of May with new material ahead of Edinburgh. Millerick’s sardonic delivery and cult following have made him one of the most respected comics on the UK circuit, while Pelham’s mix of awkward vulnerability and chaotic storytelling has seen him become a regular on shows like Live at the Apollo and Mock the Week.
A week later, Sara Barron and Cecily Hitchcock take over the venue on 28 May. Barron has quietly become one of the funniest stand-ups in the country over the last few years, pairing brutal honesty with brilliantly sharp writing, while Hitchcock has built a huge online following thanks to her gloriously unpredictable crowd work clips.
Woolwich Works is also continuing to build its own comedy identity through Big Bill’s Comedy Night, the monthly grassroots night hosted by rising comic Bilal Rashid.
The next edition lands on the 19th of June and features Horatio Gould, Harry Coombes, Zak Ranger and Terry Gargin. Rashid’s night has quickly become one of the more exciting DIY comedy events south of the river, leaning into weirder energy and younger circuit talent rather than safe club-comedy familiarity.
Elsewhere in the programme, Eric Rushton and Stuart Goldsmith preview new solo shows on the 14th of July, while Will Adamsdale brings his AI-themed comedy show AI AI OH (Or How I Wrote a Hit Sitcom with ChatGPT But We’re Not Talking Now) to Woolwich on 18 July.
Then later in the year, parenting-comedy favourites Scummy Mummies arrive with their latest live show Hot Mess on the 19th of November, promising the usual mix of songs, chaos and brutally relatable stories about modern family life.
Taken together, the programme feels like Woolwich Works positioning itself as something more than just another events venue. Between the Fringe previews, alternative nights and Comedy Store partnership, it’s becoming one of the more interesting homes for live comedy outside central London.
The Comedy Store nights take place at Woolwich Works on the 11th of September and the 27th of November.
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