Laughing Horse is a British

comedy Comedy is a genre of fiction that consists of discourses or works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. The term o ...

promotion company and venue operator. The company was established in the UK in 1998, and now operates venues in

Aldershot Aldershot () is a town in Hampshire, England. It lies on heathland in the extreme northeast corner of the county, southwest of London. The area is administered by Rushmoor Borough Council. The town has a population of 37,131, while the Alders ...

Brighton Brighton () is a seaside resort and one of the two main areas of the City of Brighton and Hove in the county of East Sussex, England. It is located south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze A ...

, Cirencester,

Hitchin Hitchin () is a market town and unparished area in the North Hertfordshire Districts of England, district in Hertfordshire, England, with an estimated population of 35,842. History Hitchin is first noted as the central place of the Hicce peopl ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

(

Brixton Brixton is a district in south London, part of the London Borough of Lambeth, England. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London. Brixton experienced a rapid rise in population during the 19th ce ...

Covent Garden Covent Garden is a district in London, on the eastern fringes of the West End, between St Martin's Lane and Drury Lane. It is associated with the former fruit-and-vegetable market in the central square, now a popular shopping and tourist si ...

, Lancaster Gate,

Paddington Paddington is an area within the City of Westminster, in Central London. First a medieval parish then a metropolitan borough, it was integrated with Westminster and Greater London in 1965. Three important landmarks of the district are Paddi ...

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

St Neots St NeotsPronunciation of the town name: Most commonly, but variations that ''saint'' is said as in most English non-georeferencing speech, the ''t'' is by a small minority of the British pronounced and higher traces of in the final syllable ...

, Thetford and

Wyboston Wyboston is a village in the English county of Bedfordshire,adjacent to the town of St Neots, on the Cambridgeshire border. The eastern part of the village is dominated by the A1 Great North Road. Approaching the Black Cat Roundabout from the Be ...

. They run three venues at Brighton Fringe, seventeen at Edinburgh Fringe and also have a presence at the

Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...

Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...

and

Melbourne Fringe The Melbourne Fringe Festival is an annual independent arts festival in Melbourne, Australia, usually over three weeks from late September to early October. Held since 1982, the Festival includes a wide variety of art forms, including theatre, com ...

s. It is run by Alex Petty and Kevin McCarron. At Edinburgh, they have run the

Free Edinburgh Fringe Festival The Free Edinburgh Fringe Festival is a programme of free entry events that takes place at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, the world's largest arts festival, each August. It is organised by the comedy promoter Laughing Horse, although it inc ...

since 2004. At these shows, audiences do not have to buy tickets. They simply pay what they choose as a donation at the end of the show. Since 2001, they have run the Laughing Horse New Act of the Year competition, which has been won by several famous British comedians at early stages of their career. For that reason, it has been called "a big deal to British newcomers". Greg Davies won the competition on his fourth ever gig, and Russell Kane won it within the first six months of his career. Others to have won or made the final include Rhod Gilbert,

Nina Conti Nina Margarita Conti (born 25 August 1973) is a British actress, comedian, and ventriloquist. Early life Conti was born and raised in Hampstead, London, the daughter of actors Tom Conti and Kara Wilson. She attended King Alfred School, Londo ...

Jack Whitehall Jack Peter Benedict Whitehall (born 7 July 1988) is an English comedian, actor, presenter and writer. He is known for starring as JP in the series ''Fresh Meat (TV series), Fresh Meat'' (2011–2016) and Alfie Wickers in the series ''Bad Educat ...

and

Carl Donnelly Carl Donnelly (born 13 January 1982 in Tooting, south London) is a British stand-up, dancer, comedian, and writer. He turned vegan in 2013, and has since become an ambassador for Veganuary. He has talked about being vegan extensively in his act ...

. The company also run comedy training courses.

New Act of the Year Winners

*2001 -

Matt High Matt may refer to: *Matt (name), people with the given name ''Matt'' or Matthew, meaning "gift from God", or the surname Matt *In British English, of a surface: having a non-glossy finish, see gloss (material appearance) *Matt, Switzerland, a mu ...

*2002 - Greg Davies *2003 -

Marek Larwood Marek Ryan Larwood (born 2 June 1976) is an English comedian and actor. He is best known for the BBC Three sketch show ''Rush Hour'' and for being one third of the comedy trio ''We Are Klang''. Early life Born in Norwich, Norfolk, Larwood lived ...

*2004 - Russell Kane *2005 -

James Branch James Branch (27 February 1845 – 16 November 1918), was a British boot manufacturer and Liberal politician. Branch was born in Bethnal Green in the East End of London, where he established a boot factory. An active member of the Liberal Party ...

*2006 -

*2007 - Daniel Rigby *2008 -

Darren Ruddell Darren is a masculine given name of uncertain etymological origins. Some theories state that it originated from an Anglicisation of the Irish first name Darragh or Dáire, meaning "Oak Tree". According to other sources, it is thought to come from ...

as "Kev" *2009 -

Sam Gore Sam, SAM or variants may refer to: Places * Sam, Benin * Sam, Boulkiemdé, Burkina Faso * Sam, Bourzanga, Burkina Faso * Sam, Kongoussi, Burkina Faso * Sam, Iran * Sam, Teton County, Idaho, United States, a populated place People and fictio ...

*2010 - Julian Deane *2011 -

Adam Belbin Adam; el, Ἀδάμ, Adám; la, Adam is the name given in Genesis 1-5 to the first human. Beyond its use as the name of the first man, ''adam'' is also used in the Bible as a pronoun, individually as "a human" and in a collective sense as " ...

*2012 -

Bobby Mair Bobby Mair is a Canadian stand-up comedian based in London, England. Mair has appeared on ''The Hour (Canadian TV series), The Hour'', ''Russell Howard's Good News'', ''Sweat the Small Stuff'', ''Virtually Famous'', ''Never Mind the Buzzcocks'', ' ...

*2013 -

Sofie Hagen Sofie Hagen is a London-based Danish comedian, author, podcaster, fashion designer, and fat acceptance campaigner. She has toured with comedy shows, released a book and hosted and co-hosted a number of podcasts. Biography Sofie Hagen was bor ...

*2014 - Jenny Collier *2015 -

Donal Vaughan Donal Vaughan is a Gaelic footballer who played inter county football with Mayo. He plays club football for Castlebar Mitchels since 2017 after leaving Ballinrobe. Playing career Vaughan started at centre back in two All-Ireland SFC finals: t ...

The Edinburgh Fringe

Laughing horse run numerous venues at The Edinburgh Fringe under the name The Free Festival with acts including Joel Dommett, Paul McAffrey, Ahir Shah, and Sean Mcloughlin

References

External links

Official websiteFree Edinburgh Fringe Festival website
Edinburgh Festival Fringe {{comedy-stub