10 SEMI-ANGRY COMICS COMEDY GALA

STEPHEN K AMOS: A stalwart of the comedy scene he has charmed and entertained audiences all over the world with his natural, assured delivery and honest original material. A gifted actor, Amos has impressed critics with his performances on stage and screen. He had roles in Tim Burton’s Beetlejuice and has been on QI, Have I Got News For You and Live At The Apollo. He presented the critically acclaimed documentary ‘Prejudice and Pride’ on BBC Four with Susan Calman and appeared on Dave's One Night Stand. He also starred in his first TV series ‘The Stephen K Amos Show’ for BBC Two. Stephen had two second series of his hit radio series Life: An Idiots Guide for BBC Radio 4.Stephen also played woith Christian Slater and Mackenzie Crook in the West End production of One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest in 2004.

JOE PASQUALE: Unbelievably this marks Joe’s debut Edinburgh Fringe performance!  Joe’s TV career started as a runner-up on ‘New Faces’ in 1987 and since then, he has gone on to be crowned King Of The Jungle on ITV’s ‘I’m a Celebrity Get Me out Of Here’; Hosted an ITV Special ‘An Audience With Joe Pasquale’; hosted the long running television series ‘The Price Is Right’ for ITV, starred in ITV’s ‘Dancing on Ice’; dangled from the ceiling of the London Palladium for ITV’s ‘Live From The Palladium’; taken part in ITV’s ‘Sugar Free Farm’; Bared all on ITV1’s ‘The All New Monty: Who Bares Wins’ for Stand-up To Cancer; appeared on five Royal Variety Performances; spent time in a Costa Rican prison for Virgin One’s ‘The Prisoner X’ documentary season; spent five days alone in the jungles of Guyana for Discovery Channels ‘Alone In The Wild Series’; had numerous guest appearances on BBC’s ‘Celebrity Mastermind’ and ‘Celebrity Chase’ and most recently winning ITV1’s ‘I’m A Celebrity – Masked Singer Special’ in 2023. Joe has racked up an impressive list of Theatre credits including - Larry Shue’s ‘The Nerd’ which prompted Time Out to describe his performance as “rib-shatteringly funny”; Tom Stoppard’s ‘Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead’, Mel Brooks ‘The Producers’, ‘Doctor In The House’ with Robert Powell and in 2022 in the starring role of ‘Frank Spencer’ in the new stage touring adaptation of hit TV sitcom ‘Some Mothers Do Ave Em’.

TOM STADE: Star of BBC1’s Live At The Apollo, The John Bishop Show & Michael McIntyre’s Comedy Roadshow, Jim Jeffries & Friends, Ch4’s Comedy Gala & Stand-Up For The Week & Dave’s One Night Stand, Canadian émigré Tom Stade has earned a reputation as one of the most distinctive and engaging stand-up talents around.  Originally from Canada, he first came to the UK in 2001, where he instantly made a splash on the circuit with his magnetic stage presence and first-class storytelling. He chose to make the UK his home, and, after many years as a headliner and playing at international comedy festivals around the globe, he is now firmly established as a leading touring act, and has amassed a legion of loyal fans along the way.A prolific and innovative talent, Tom is a regular at the Edinburgh Fringe; and has toured the UK with a brand-new show every year since 2011, playing to packed houses and garnering rave reviews.  He returned to the Edinburgh Fringe last year with his latest solo show Naughty by Nature. In addition to 11.5 Angry Men, he brings his 16^th solo show, Tom Stade Rules at Stand 1, and will tour across the UK & Ireland from September through to May 2027.Tom’s irrepressible charm translated effortlessly to TV, and he has been invited onto every major stand-up TV show in the country.  He has performed on BBC1’s The John Bishop Show and has performed twice on BBC One’s Live at the Apollo.  He performed to his largest live audience to date joining the star-studded line-up on Ch4’s Comedy Gala at London’s 02 arena.  He has also performed on Michael McIntyre’s Comedy Roadshow and Lee Mack’s All Star Cast, Edinburgh Comedy Fest Live for BBC Three and The Boyle Variety Performance for Ch4.  He has performed twice on Ch4’s Stand-Up for the Week, was given an extended set on Dave’s One Night Stand and has also guested on BBC 2’s topical panel show Mock The Week.  Other stand-up appearances include Comedy Central’s The World Stand’s Up, ITV2’s Comedy Cuts and multiple performances on Comedy Central’s The Comedy Store.  He’s a regular guest on Hot Water Comedy’s hugely popular ‘Have A Word Pod’ – which he has also guest hosted. In 2025, performed on Jim Jeffries and Friends. Tom was the co-writer and co-star of Frankie Boyle’s Ch4 Tramadol Nights.  He has starred as a spoof chat-show host in Come Fringe Yourself with Tom Stade, recorded at the Edinburgh Fringe in 2015.  He then went on to co-write and star in an online series entitled M.U.F.F. alongside Daniel Sloss.Back in his native Canada, Tom appeared in the critically acclaimed sitcom The Newsroom and the award-winning feature film My Own Private Oshawa.  As a stand-up he starred in his own hour special for CBC/Comedy Central Stade and Confused. Tom remains in great demand internationally and has accepted invitations to perform at notable comedy festivals worldwide including New York, Aspen, Montreal, Toronto, Amsterdam, Kilkenny, Adelaide, Melbourne and New Zealand.  He has regularly entertained British troops overseas, braving the freezing cold Falklands, and been under fire in Afghanistan and Iraq; His brilliance and flair earned him a nomination for Best Headliner at the Chortle Awards.

SPENCER JONES:  Double Edinburgh Comedy Award nominee, actor and writer whose gloriously unhinged blend of surrealism, slapstick and visual invention has made him one of the most distinctive voices in contemporary comedy. A regular standout at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, Jones has built a devoted following for shows that gleefully dismantle traditional stand-up, with prop-driven chaos, physical absurdity and a uniquely playful logic. On screen, he known for creating and starring in the BBC series The Mind of Herbert Clunkerdunk, a riot of imagination that perfectly captures his singular comedic world. He also starred in Mister Winner and has appeared Kempe in Upstart Crow alongside David Mitchell, and Derek in Ted Lasso. Whether wielding homemade props, inhabiting oddball characters or diving headfirst into delightful chaos, Jones crafts performances that feel both anarchic and precisely tuned. At once childlike and sophisticated, Spencer Jones’s comedy is a reminder that the ridiculous, when done right, can be an art form all its own

MARK MAIER: The multi award winning writer and comedian is a highly sought-after performer on both the national and international comedy circuits. His numerous professional highlights include three series of 'Trapped' for BBC Radio 4 - a show both written and performed by Mark, The Stand-Up Show (BBC1), Dating The Enemy (ITV), Bring Me The Head of Light Entertainment, (CH5) and Five’s Company (CH5). Mark regularly performs with the critically acclaimed 'Comedy Store Players'. He founded the group 'MadLib' which performed at the Edinburgh Festival. He recently starred in Harry Hill the Movie and subsequently in his Harry Hill Teatime series where he played a variety of roles including a Geordie Father Xmas and Angela Merkel. This year he performed his one man show Jewvenile to a packed house in London’s Duchess Theatre. The stand-up show is a tribute to his father who fled Nazi Germany. This show will be at the Dining Room at The Gilded Balloon from 5th - 10^th August.

Glenn Wool:  Canada raised, Glenn moved to London in 1998 and quickly became an established star of the UK’s comedy circuit before becoming a globally recognised name. He is a regular opening act for Frankie Boyle, Jim Jefferies and Doug Stanhope. TV credits include John Oliver’s 'New York Stand-Up Show', 8 Out of 10 Cats, Never Mind the Buzzcocks, Russell Howard’s Good News and The John Bishop Show. He also lent his voice (along with Katherine Ryan) to the BAFTA award-winning Lottie Bearshout: Good as Goaled for Disney XD. He is hugely popular addition at music festivals including Reading & Leeds, Bestival, Download, Sonisphere and Glastonbury.  The episode of Jim Jefferies and Friends that he headlined for channel 7 Australia was seen by over one million people.  He's a regular guest on influential podcasts such as WTF, Have A Word, Risk, The Richard Herring Podcast and Dead Men Talking as well as his own Freestylin w/ Frankie Boyle and Eejits of the World w/ Andrew Maxwell. Glenn’s new stand-up show Glenn Wool is Luv (Sic) will be at The Attic/Beehive at 9pm for the month of August.

JJ WHITEHEAD - Jason John Whitehead's rangy swagger and fearless, electric wit has charmed audiences around the world, a North American who cut his comedy teeth in Great Britain. He has been a regular on British and Canadian TV and at international comedy festivals. JJ brought his honest, uncensored brand of humour to Los Angeles where he was part of the writing team behind The Jim Jefferies Show on Comedy Central, earning them a nomination in the WGA awards for Late Night Comedy. He also opens for Jim on his national tours on the largest stages in the country. He has performed in 17 Edinburgh Fringe Festivals over the years including 12 solo shows since starting his career at The Stand Comedy Club in Edinburgh in 1999. Some of his TV credits include The BBC Stand Up Show with Tommy Tiernan, Live at The Comedy Store, Comedy Now Uncensored in Canada and he performed Stand Up on Jim Jefferies And Friends on Chanel 9 in Australia and Comics Unleashed on CBS in America.

IAN COPPINGER: One of Ireland’s busiest award-winning comedians, he is a regular on the world comedy circuit having played to packed houses at the Edinburgh, Melbourne, Montreal Just For Laughs, Galway, Electric Picnic, Glastonbury, Dublin, Adelaide, Perth, Brisbane and Wellington Comedy Festivals.  He has also appeared at every Cat Laughs Comedy Festival in Kilkenny since 1995. A noted improviser Ian is a co-founder of The Dublin Comedy Improv (1992), where he still performs every week in Dublin’s International Bar. He played Juror 2 in Guy Masterson’s 2003 production of 12 Angry Men. He has also guested in “Whose Line Is It Anyway? Live” at the Edinburgh Fringe and is a regular with The Comedy Store Players.  He is a member of “The Improv All-Stars” alongside Stephen Frost and Steve Steen with whom he has performed in over 50 countries. This year’s he will also perform with the “Improv All-Stars” in The Frankenstein Bar at the Fringe.

TERRY ALDERTON: is unpredictable, electric, and completely one of a kind, he doesn’t just perform stand-up… he creates a full-throttle comedy experience. From explosive energy to moments of pure spontaneity, no two shows are ever the same.  A true comic’s comic and one of the most respected performers on the circuit, Terry has built a reputation for leaving audiences in absolute disbelief — and stitches.  He has performed on Live At The Apollo, The Harry Hill Show, The Jonathan Ross Show and at the Royal Variety Performance. As an actor he is best known for his roles in EastEnders and Lock Stock & Two Smoking Barrels.

PHIL NICHOL: An Edinburgh Comedy Award Winner and internationally renowned comedian, actor, writer, director, and musician.  Phil’s TV appearances include Never Mind the Buzzcocks, The Graham Norton Show, The Standup Show and The World Stands Up, As an actor, Phil played Terry Gilliam in BBC4’s BAFTA-nominated Holy Flying Circus. He has appeared in Catastrophe (C4), Uncle (BBC 3), Man Down (C4), Siblings (BBC 1), Badults (BBC 2) and Agatha Raisin (Sky Max). On stage, Phil has appeared in London’s West End in Olivier Award nominated, Everybody’s Talking About Jamie, performed with the Donmar Warehouse in New York in The Machine, and starred in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest with Christian Slater. Phil starred alongside Boy George in the original cast of Taboo, and alongside Bill Bailey in Twelve Angry Men, directed by Guy Masterson. Most recently, Phil devised and starred as lead character Dick Marlin in Spiegelworld’s cirque-cabaret The Hook in Atlantic City for 18 months in 2024/2025. He will be bringing a brand-new stand-up show for this year’s Fringe entitled ‘Aren’t We Lucky’, his first new show in 7 years, which will premiere at the Gilded Balloon Teviot Lounge. In addition, Phil will also be bringing back his Edinburgh Comedy Award winning show ‘The Naked Racist’ also to the Gilded Balloon Teviot Wine Bar for 14 nights to celebrate its 20^th anniversary since the win.

OWEN O’NEILL: Owen is a writer of stage and screen and stand-up comedian. He has written and performed 17 one-man plays and has won awards at the Edinburgh Festival including a Fringe First, The Herald Angel award for best play and the Edinburgh Critics award for best comedy.  At the East 59th Street Theatre in New York City he won best actor in his one-man play Absolution which he then performed at the Park Theatre in 2016 directed by Guy Masterson. He was the co-originator of the 2003 hit 12 Angry Men with Guy Masterson. He played Harding in the West End hit, One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest with Christian Slater and Mackenzie Crook. He co-adapted The Shawshank Redemption for the stage and tours regularly in the UK and North America.  His debut novel Tom Joad and Me was published in May 2024.