Comedy

Comedy shows in London's West End

If you measure a night out by how much you laugh, London has an entire district for you. West End comedy spans farce, spoof, satire, improvisation and comedy musicals, and the best of it plays eight shows a week. The Play That Goes Wrong at the Duchess Theatre has been collapsing scenery on cue for over a decade, its creators Mischief Theatre have turned disaster into one of Britain's great comic exports. For musical comedy with real bite, The Book of Mormon at the Prince of Wales Theatre remains the sharpest satire in town.

Spoofs, improv and dinner shows

The current wave of West End comedy leans into parody. Titanique at the Criterion Theatre retells Titanic through Celine Dion songs; The Comedy About Spies brings Mischief's chaos to the Cold War; and Mel Brooks' The Producers at the Garrick Theatre is the definitive Broadway spoof. No two performances of Showstopper! The Improvised Musical are the same, the audience shouts suggestions and the cast builds a full musical on the spot. And if you want dinner with your laughs, Faulty Towers The Dining Experience serves a three-course meal in the middle of the mayhem. Classic wit gets its due too, with Noël Coward's Hay Fever at Wyndham's Theatre.

Picking the right comedy

Physical farce like The Play That Goes Wrong needs no cultural translation, which makes it the safest choice for visitors and mixed groups. Satirical shows reward audiences who enjoy edgier material; The Book of Mormon in particular earns its adult content warning. The line-up rotates regularly, so check each show's page for dates, and see what's on this weekend if you are booking late.