Balham Free Fringe: 60 Hours of Free Comedy Shows!

The Balham Free Fringe festival returns to The Bedford for its fifth consecutive year, with over 60 hours of totally free comedy shows across three stages! No tickets, no entry fee - just turn up!​

WHAT IS THE BALHAM FREE FRINGE?
Every year comedians write new shows for the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, and to make them perfect they do lots of work-in-progress gigs. That's what the Balham Free Fringe is: a weekend of brilliant, nearly-ready shows. The audience gets to see great comedians for free; the comedians get to use the audience like gorgeous comedy guinea pigs.

From stand-up to sketch, from silly to political, and from newer acts to famous TV names, we've got something to match single every comedy taste.

WHO IS ON OVER THE WEEKEND?
Acts on our bill include the mighty RICHARD HERRING!
Comedy Central & Bill Hicks support-act NICK DOODY!
Radio 4's DANIELLE WARD!
Comedy Store regular ALISTAIR BARRIE!
Stewart Lee's support-act STEPHEN CARLIN!
Frankie Boyle support-act TIERNAN DOUIEB!
CHRIS COLTRANE (Host of London's popular political comedy club Lolitics)!
Question Time regular KATE SMURTHWAITE!
Alternative Comedy Memorial Society founder JOHN-LUKE ROBERTS!
Dave's One Night Stand star JOE ROWNTREE!
And many, many more.

WHAT IS THE PBH FREE FRINGE?
Almost every show over the weekend will be going to Edinburgh thanks to PBH's Free Fringe, an organisation that allows comedians to have their venue for free, in exchange for letting in the audience for free. It is a movement against the bigger venues that charge performers thousands of pounds just to perform!

The weekend will be a fundraiser for PBH's Free Fringe. Every single show is genuinely free, with a collection at the end so people can pay what they think the show was worth. Last year we raised over £1,000. We'd love you to come and help make it our biggest year yet!

PBH’s Free Fringe founder Peter Buckley Hill says: "The Free Fringe is now the biggest single organisation putting on shows at the Edinburgh Fringe. In 2014 we had 465 shows in 38 venues over the 23 days of the Edinburgh Fringe, all free of charge to the public. London shouldn't be left out. If you can't make it to Edinburgh, come to Balham."