Join us for an exciting preview from two brilliant comedians before they head to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival…
2023 Edinburgh Comedy Award winner Ahir Shah is one of the fastest-rising comedians of his generation and is known for his sharp, intellectual brand of stand-up featuring a blend of philosophical inquiry, political vigour, and sweet gags. Ahir is a regular on television and radio and has performed stand-up on Live At The Apollo, The Now Show and Stand Up Central. Outside of stand up, Ahir has been seen on shows including Have I Got News For You, QI, Frankie Boyle’s New World Order, Mock the Week, The Mash Report/Late Night Mash, Guessable, Rob Beckett’s Undeniable and Catastrophe.
Bilal Zafar was nominated for the lastminute.com Best Newcomer Award for his debut show, CAKES, at the Edinburgh Fringe. Bilal also won the New Act of the Year award joining the company of previous winners such as Stewart Lee, Ardal O’Hanlon, Joe Wilkinson and Linda Smith. He was the runner up at the Leicester Square Theatre New Comedian of the Year competition. He has appeared on BBC3, BBC iPlayer, BBC Radio 4, BBC Radio 5 Live, BBC Asian Network, and has written for The Independent. He also runs a successful Twitch page which has racked up over 12.3K followers. He streams an interactive, improvised comedy show three times a week where he plays a football manager embroiled in scandal, featuring various special guests. The show is growing every day and has been picked up by multiple radio shows and newspapers.
Update 26/06/25: Due to illness, Bilal Zafar is unfortunately no longer able to perform and will be replaced by the hilarious Will Rowland.
Will Rowland is a comedian, actor and director. For his stand-up, Will has been a finalist in multiple comedy competitions including Leicester Square Theatre New Comedian of the Year, as well as acting in sketches for BBC Three and Pulped. As a director, Will has worked with a number of acts, including some of the best reviewed shows of the Edinburgh Fringe 2023.
Will is one half of the double act Crizards, whose two live shows Cowboys (2022) and This Means War (2023) attracted considerable critical acclaim. Crizards have appeared on Dave’s Question Team, Sky News and the BBC- who filmed them singing a song to Gordon Ramsay (he didn’t like it). They were shortlisted for the BBC New Comedy Award and runners up in the Leicester Square Theatre Sketch Off competition.
