British has a long history of producing top comedians; some of them have taken the medium of film, or television. Some of them have the humility to stand out in new opportunities.
Here, through this article stay with me as I am going to wrap up the top 20 British comedians of all time and will touch on their best approaches and style. It is too difficult for me to rank them so let’s explore the list in no specific order. You can pick anyone from the list as your favourite.
British comedians female
Caroline Aherne
She is well known as the chat show host Mrs Merton Aherne has appeared on the first show, and also as Denise in The Royal Family, it is a series that she co-wrote.
Mrs Merton’s show was a popular chat show and she won a BAFTA award for her work in this chat show. The Royal Family show as well for being a narrator on the fly-on-the-wall reality show Gogglebox.
Mrs Merton often stunned her guests as she throws outrageous questions about real-life celebrities.
Roisin Conaty
Roisin Conaty was born on 26th March 1979 and is a British comedian; actor, and writer. She was awarded the Best Newcomer award at the Edinburg festival in 2010.
Conaty created the E4 sitcom GameFace in 2017, in which she was the writer, executive producer, and lead actress.
Aisling Bea
Aisling Bea was born on 16th March 1984, is an Irish comedian, and actor. She wrote, created, and starred in the comedy series This Way up, which was broadcast on Chanel 4 in the United Kingdom.
She won the “So You Think You’re funny?” award at the Edinburg festival in 2012 as a stand-up comedian. She was the second woman who won this award in twenty-five years of history.
You can see her regular appearance on light entertainment comedy panel shows like Q1 and 8 out of 10 cats.
Sarah Millican
Sarah Jane Millican was born on 29 May 1975; is a British comedian and actor. She has won the Best newcomer comedian award in 2008 at Edinburg Festival Fringe. In 2013 she was listed as one of the 100 most powerful women in Britain by Radio 4’s Woman’s hour.
In the same year, she was married to her fellow comedian Gary Delaney. In 2017, her first book, How To Be Champion, was published.
Millican has performed on various tours throughout the United Kingdom over the years.
Catherine Tate
Catherine Tate born on 12th May 1968; is an English comedian, writer, and actress. She has won several awards for her work for the comedian series the Catherine Tate show. She was also nominated for the International Emmy Award and seven BAFTAs.
Tate played Donna’s novel in 2006; she started a recurring role as Nellie Bertram in the U.S. now she also provided the voice of Magica De Spell in the 2017 reboot of Disney’s Ducktales animated series.
British comedians male
Bill Bailey
With a great body of work, bill bailey is one of the greatest all-time British comedians. He was starring in such shows as Black Books; he rose his popularity. He can be found in some other popular shows like QI, Never Mind the Buzzcocks, and in some as a guest appearance.
He is more popular for his musical and comedian ability. Pay Troll is one of the greatest comedy performances ever.
Steve Coogan
Steve Coogan is a master at impressions and voice art; he has an extremely successful career in television and films. He became famous for his politically incorrect character Alan Partridge.
Coogan’s satire and biting humour made him recognizable within whatever medium he decided to use. It can be scripted television or movies, screenwriting, or a stand-up comedy.
John Cleese
The list of the greatest British comedians won’t be finished without the name of John Cleese. He has specialization in satire, black comedy, and sketch comedy, his absurd and surreal are unique in the business.
His role as Basil Fawlty was recognizable as the second-best television character ever in 2001.
John Cleese has also been cast as R and Q in the James Bond Films. He was also been in the harry Potter Franchise as Nearly headless Nick.
Ricky Gervais
Ricky Gervais is one of the most rewarded comedians in the Britain of all time. He is well known for his mockumentary The Office.
He was awarded seven BAFTA awards, two Emmy awards, five British comedy awards, three Golden Globe awards, and the Rose d’Or twice.
After making The Office he then followed it up a few years later with the hilarious series Extras. He performed various roles in movies including The Invention of Lying, and the Night at the Museum Trilogy.
David Mitchell
David Mitchell got his big break with Robert Webb in Peep Show; Mitchell has gone to be one of the most popular comedians in Britain for his constant appearance and performance in a variety of UK T.V. panel shows.
His sense of humour is amazing for both scripted work and film. Though his use of flinch-inducing humour and uncomfortable situations make his entertainment watch impossible for some people the payoffs are great.
Funniest British comedians
Jimmy Carr
Jimmy Carr is one of the most popular jokers and entertainers in Britain. Carr has one of the greatest comedy minds out there and one of the most bizarre laughs.
Carr has moved into hosting roles such as the Big Fat Quiz of the year. And it is Carr’s comedian style for which he is so famous in the United Kingdom. Carr keeps on constantly touring as a standup comedian which led him to be more famous.
Billy Connolly
Sir Connolly was born on 24th November 1942; is a Scottish painter, comedian, actor, artist, and musician. Connolly started his career as a folk singer but later in the 1970s, he made the transition from a folk singer to a comedian persona of Britain.
As an actor, Connolly has appeared in various films such as indecent Proposal, Muppet Treasure Island, The Last Samurai, Brave, and so on. He also played in Edinburg festival Fringe in 1972 where his first solo album was produced.
Connolly was voted for the greatest standup comic on Channel 4’s 100 best stand-up comedians.
Greg Davies
Gregory Daniel Davies was born on 14th May 1968. He is a British stand-up actor and comedian. He is well known for his role as Greg in We Are Klang, Ken Thompson in the cuckoo, Mr Gilbert in the Inbetweeners, as the Taskmaster in taskmaster, as well as for his guest appearance on Mock the Week, and Fast and Loose. He has also performed at the Apollo series live.
Stephen Merchant
Stephen Merchant has been teaming up with Ricky Gervais and has been part of the comedic genius behind The Office and Extras. He appeared with Gervais in a variety of roles in various projects.
Stephen merchant is a fantastic comedian with his acting skills. Merchant’s gangly frame of 201 cm adds another layer of ridiculousness to his style of humour.
One of Merchant’s most recent shows, The Outlaws, is a setting inspired by Merchant’s parents who related the stories of the show to their time as supervisors in their community.
Victoria Wood
Victoria wood is one of the most talented comedians in the British media. Victoria Wood had written and starred in various sketches, musicals, films, and plays, over several decades.
Her live comedy act is so much popular; her observational comedy routines that were paired with satires and parodies, particularly British social system class have seen her become one of the most awarded people in Britain.
She was nominated for BAFTA awards 14 times and became the winner of four BAFTAs.
YoungBritish comedians
James Acaster
James William Acaster was born on 9th January 1985; is an English writer, comedian, and presenter. He has performed for several years at the Edinburg Festival Fringe where James was been nominated for the Best show five times.
Acaster released Repertoire, a serialized Netflix four separate long performance in 2018. These four performances are “Recognize”, “Represent”, “Reset”, and “Recap”. In 2019 he won the Melbourne International Comedy Festival award for the most outstanding performance with Cold Lasagne hate Myself 1999. It was later released on Netflix.
He won four chortle Awards and has appeared on panel shows like Mock the Week, Taskmaster, etc.
Kevin Bridges
Kevin Andrew bridges were born on 13th November 1986; he is a Scottish stand-up comedian. He is well known for the roles in his 2012 television series Kevin Bridges: What’s the story? It was based on his stand-up routines.
He has performed on many television panels shows such as Would I lie To You?, Have I got News For You?
He had performed live at the Apollo and Michael McIntyre’s Comedy Roadshow.
Joe Lycett
Joe Harry Lycett was born on 5th July 1988; is a British comedian and television presenter. He has appeared on various television shows such as Live at the Apollo, never mind the Buzzcocks, 8 Out of 10 Cats, Taskmaster, QI, the narrator for Ibiza weekender, as the presenter on BBC Two’s ‘Great British Sewing Bee, etc.
Lycett briefly changed his name in 2020 by deep poll to Hugo Boss as a part of a protest of the fashion brand of the same name.
Russell Howard
Russel Howard was born on 23rd March 1980, is an actor, television presenter, radio presenter, and an English comedian. He is best known for his television shows Russell Howard’s Good News and the Russell Howard hour. He made his great appearance on the topical panel TV show Mock the Week.
He won the ‘Best Compere’ Chorties awards in 2006 and also was nominated for Edinburg Festival Flinge for the best show in 2006.
Jason Manford
Jason Manford was born on 26th May 1981, is an English comedian, radio presenter, and television presenter. She was a team captain on the Channel 4 panel show 8 out of 10 cats from 2007 to 2010.
She has presented various television shows for ITV and BBC including comedy Rocks, The One Show, A Question of Sport: Super Saturday and Show Me the Funny.
FAQ-
Who was the first British comedian?
Ans: In the Early 19th Century, in England, pantomime acquired its present form and featured the first mainstream comedian Joseph Grimaldi. At that time comedy routines were so much popular and featured in British music hall Theatre.
Who was the famous comedian in English Film?
Ans: Rowan Atkinson is the most famous comedian in English films. He delighted television as well as film audiences with his comic creation Mr Bean.
Who is the most famous comedian among the youngsters of Britain?
Ans. James Acaster is having a great craze among the famous comedians among the British youngsters. Moreover, he also got five nominations for the Best Show at Edinburgh Festival Fringe.
Wrap up:
Becoming a great comic stand-up in Britain is a tough job and there is plenty of competition in this field. All British comedians are hardworking, humorous, sensible, passionate, and hilarious.
Here, I have listed the top 20 British comedians of all time. You can choose anyone to vote for in 2022. They are unique in their way of work and presentation.