Running from Friday 6th to Sunday 15th October, the award-winning festival boasts appearances from Murder From Successville’s Tom Davis (6th October, Town Hall), Jason Byrne (8th October, Town Hall), and Jenny Eclair (14th October, The Old Rep).

Other highlights include former Red Dwarf actor/comedian Norman Lovett (11th October, Irish Centre), Seann Walsh (5th-6th October, The Old Rep), Robin Ince (7th October, The Mockingbird), Jamie Hutchinson (8th October, The Glee Club), and Paul Foot (13th October, The Glee Club).

Angelos Epithemiou, Eshaan Akbar, Carl Hutchinson, Rhys James, Jack Gleadow, Connor Burns, Jamie Hutchinson, Alfie Moore, and Aurie Styla also appear.

Lauded playwright Tim Firth has two productions in the festival: firstly, the acclaimed Calendar Girls The Musical (3rd-7th October, The Alexandra), a glitzy hit with music by Gary Barlow, and a cast that includes Marti Webb, Lyn Paul, Amy Robbins, Tanya Franks and Maureen Nolan; and secondly, the sharp-witted Sheila’s Island (11th-14th October, Old Joint Stock Theatre).

As always, comedians from the West Midlands feature prominently, with shows from Warwickshire rising star Josh Pugh (10th October, The Glee Club), Brum-based Leicester Mercury Comedian of The Year Eric Rushton (7th October, The Glee Club), and the Edinburgh Comedy Award nominated Rob Kemp (7th October, 1000 Trades), plus Richard Dadd, Danny Clives, Tal Davies, and Damon Conlan, as well as leading improvisation groups Jumprov!, Behind The Headlines, and Improv Wolves.

There’s also returning regulars, including the region’s biggest comedy prize, the Birmingham Comedy Festival Breaking Talent Award (6th October, The Glee Club), in which the best West Mids acts compete for the title; two Free Half-Dayers across successive Sundays (8th and 15th October, Cherry Reds and The Victoria), with one hour shows from James Cook, Lindsey Santoro, Hannah Weetman, Tom Little and Mary Flanigan and others; and a triple-bill of Laurel and Hardy classics (13th October, West Mids Police Museum and 15th October, Stourbridge Town Hall).

Continuing the classic comedy theme, the festival is also celebrating the centenary of the birth of Black Country born comedy writer Larry Stephens with a one-off performance of two of his scripts from radio cult The Goon Show (8th October, Symphony Hall) – the series which launched the careers of Spike Milligan, Peter Sellers and Harry Secombe in the 1950s.