Where to see comedy in Camden, from Dingwalls to the room above the pub

Short version: the best comedy in Camden is in rooms above pubs, it is cheap, and it starts early enough to leave time for a pint and the last train. Check each room's own website for tonight's line-up before you set off.

Camden Comedy Club: the main pick

Where: above the Camden Head, 100 Camden High Street, NW1 0LU, close to Camden Town tube. When: most nights of the week, with the bigger names on Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Price: Time Out put tickets at £3.50 to £17 and said they are rarely more than a tenner. A recent post from the club showed last tickets at £12.50 for a Rat Pack night. Times: a post from the club advertised doors at 19:45 and the show at 20:00.

The club says it has been running since 2014 in what it calls a humble little room. Its own site lists Harry Hill, Stephen Merchant, Alan Carr, Russell Howard, Bridget Christie, Stewart Lee, Rich Hall, Sara Pascoe and Joe Lycett among past performers. On the other nights expect new material, Edinburgh previews, panel shows, sketch and alternative comedy. Time Out describes an L-shaped room with a neon sign above the stage, where different promoters and comedians take over on different nights. Camden Fringe lists it as a 65-seat room, so it is small, and small means you are in the front row whether you like it or not. Book ahead through camdencomedyclub.com. Londonist also lists a recurring Sunday raconteur night, Tall Tales & Cocktails, on some Sundays.

One warning. There is another room called Angel Comedy Club at the Camden Head, 2 Camden Walk, N1 8DY. That one is in Angel, Islington, not Camden. Check the street address on your ticket before you get on the wrong bus.

Comedy in Your Eye: the cheap midweek one

Where: upstairs at the Camden Eye, 2 Kentish Town Road, NW1 9NX, opposite Camden Town tube. When: Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, according to its listings. Price: Londonist says tickets can be as cheap as £3, and the Universe listing shows £3.20 to £6.42.

The format is short sets from TV comics and rising stars. The listing gives doors at 18:50, the show at 19:00, an interval at 19:50, the second half at 20:00 and a finish at 21:00, with the downstairs bar open from noon. That is a done-by-nine night: you can be home, or in a second pub, before most gigs have found their first chord. The listing is undated, so confirm days and times on the booking page before you go.

Quinntessential Comedy: free, in Kentish Town

Where: Quinn's Pub, 65 Kentish Town Road, NW1 8NY, on the Camden Town and Kentish Town border. When: every other Thursday at 20:00, with the night's Instagram bio saying the second and fourth Thursday of the month. Price: free, reserved through GigGag.

Hosted by Dave Lynch since February 2019, it is a new-act and new-material night, so treat it as a gamble that costs nothing. The pub's Facebook page lists a beer garden and Belgian and German beers. Reserve a seat and check the date first on the night's website, as the schedule is not fixed to one weekday.

Etcetera Theatre: the alternative

Above the Oxford Arms, 265 Camden High Street, NW1 7BU, about 75 metres from Camden Town tube, this is a 42-seat pub theatre rather than a dedicated comedy club. VisitLondon says it has hosted new writing, revivals, comedy, magic, musicals, readings and previews since 1986. It is part of the Camden Fringe, and a comedy-drama, Nonsense and Sensibility, was listed there in April 2026. Look at the programme first: some nights are comedy, some are plays.

And Dingwalls?

Do not go to Dingwalls for a comedy night. Camden's best-known live room opened in summer 1973 as the flagship of the newly developed Camden Lock, in the old timber yard of T.E. Dingwall, whose name was painted on the outside wall. The Kentishtowner says the 500-capacity room hosted gigs from The Clash and The Sex Pistols. Comedy did live in the building too: a Jongleurs club operated at Lock 17 beside Dingwalls, and Just the Tonic ran Saturday shows at the Comedy Loft at Camden Lock Place. Tripadvisor reports the Comedy Loft as permanently closed. The venue is now a live music venue, and its own site shows a one-off Camden Lock-In Comedy Club night, with Rich Fulcher headlining, but nothing to suggest a regular run. Its Wikipedia entry has the history.

Making a night of it

• Early show: Comedy in Your Eye on Camden High Street or Kentish Town Road finishes at 21:00 on its listed times, so dinner afterwards works.
• Big names: book Camden Comedy Club for Thursday to Saturday and go early, because the room is small.
• Skint: Quinntessential Comedy in Kentish Town is free, so spend the money on the pint.
• Wrong room risk: the Camden Head in N1 is not the Camden Head in NW1.