The Glasgow International Comedy Festival has announced its full line-up ahead of its return in March.
Taking place from the 13th to the 31st, with over 500 events in 45 venues across the city, the 2024 edition will mark the festival's 21st birthday.
As well as Scottish acts such as Susie McCabe, Frankie Boyle, Mark Nelson, Some Laugh Live and Old Firm Facts Live, some of the biggest names in comedy from across the world such as Frank Skinner, Reginald D Hunter and Caroline Rhea will be putting on shows.
Elaine C Smith, star of Two Doors Down, will perform her new show 65, which will look back at the best and the worst of her 40 years in comedy, acting and more.
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She told The Herald: "Glasgow has always had a sense of itself: it’s got a big ego this city. Everybody thinks they’re funny and not everybody is!
“A sense of humour is maybe necessary to survive here, it’s in the genes somewhere. It’s a tough city, like New York. When I went to New York I remember thinking, ‘oh, this is like Glasgow’. Same sense of humour, everybody’s a wise guy.
"The thing for me is that the festival has to belong to the people of the city, and that’s why I get as involved as I do.
“I remember a few years ago people saying ‘is there a comedy festival?’. Folk in Argyle Street didn’t know it was on, and I think they’ve done a great job in pushing it in recent years.
“I’m going out to community centres and doing four or five gigs free of charge. It’s expensive for people to come and see shows here (the King’s Theatre) in a cost of living crisis.
“People have a lot of other things going on, so I’m going to go out there so they know it’s on and that they’re part of it as well.”
Zara Gladman has found viral fame on social media for characters including Glasgow West End Mum and her sketch about living with a Scottish newsreader.
She will play a sold out show at Oran Mor on March 28.
Ms Gladman says: "Doing comedy online is quite different to doing it live, so that’s certainly a challenge I’ll need to rise to.
“I have done stand up before and done live stuff in the past, but this will be a step up in terms of this being the first time I’ve brought these characters to the stage rather than just me as a comedian.
“The Glasgow Comedy Festival team have been super supportive and given me that boost of confidence to go for it."
Mark Nelson will play the final show of his debut tour at the King's Theatre on March 22.
He said: "In terms of the comedy world it’s one of the biggest, if not the biggest, purely comedy festivals in the whole world.
“You see that with the amount of acts that visit the city to do it. It’s brilliant, and it’s brilliant for new acts to do those shows alongside some of those big acts, it’s a massive learning curve for them and a massive development thing.
“I think Glasgow audiences are by far the best you can possibly play to – and that’s not just me being biased, you get that from other acts that have visited.
“It’s just a great, great place to play because the audiences are always so up for it.”
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Festival Director Krista MacDonald said: “We’re excited to reveal Glasgow International Comedy Festival’s biggest programme yet with 500 shows taking over the city this spring, bringing the very best of Scottish, UK and international comedy to the city’s doorsteps.
"The festival firmly believes that Glasgow is the funniest city in the world and we’re thrilled to showcase that with a brilliant mix of headline names and rising stars performing across our venues in March.
“Comedy is such an integral part of Glasgow’s DNA - from conversations with strangers on a night out to some of the world’s greatest comedians, comedy plays a vital role in our city’s cultural identity.
"Glasgow International Comedy Festival allows us to celebrate and shine a light on that whilst nurturing the next generation of talent and enjoying sets from beloved comedians. We’re looking forward to welcoming fans to iconic venues in the city’s East End, West End and everywhere in between. We’ll see you at a show!”
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