Ahir Shah

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.

Ahir’s show Dots completely sold out at the Edinburgh Fringe and toured the UK ahead of an international release on US streaming platform HBO Max filmed at the Vaudeville Theatre. The show followed Duffer and Control which also sold out and were both nominated for the Edinburgh Comedy Award for Best Show and subsequently toured the UK and overseas. Internationally, Ahir has played to sell out audiences at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival, the Adelaide Fringe and Just for Laughs Montreal, and has toured in continental Europe and India. In 2023, Ahir returned to the Edinburgh Fringe with Ends, his first full run at the festival in 4 years, and which won the Edinburgh Comedy Award for Best Show.

An in-demand writer, Ahir has written on shows including The Mash Report/Late Night Mash and Mock the Week, has written and starred in the short films Ahir Shah’s Summer (Sky) and Ahir Shah’s Life Lessons (BBC Three), and has developed two sitcom pilots with Channel 4.

Ania Magliano

Ania is a comedian based in London. She’s a triple threat (bisexual, Gen Z, bad at cooking). Her sharp, wry writing combined with her warm conversational performance style make her a ‘glittering new talent’ (the i Paper) of the UK comedy scene.

Her 2023 stand up show, I Can’t Believe You’ve Done This, was nominated for the Edinburgh Comedy Award for Best Show, and sold out its entire Fringe run before the festival began. It received multiple 4 and 5 star reviews, with the Scotsman calling it a ‘beautifully structured show’ and Ania a ‘truly original voice with an impressive set of skills’. The show was included in British Comedy Guide’s ‘Best Reviewed Edinburgh Fringe Shows 2023’ list and was the Number 1 pick in Time Out’s ‘The 11 best comedy shows at Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2023’.

Her debut hour of comedy, Absolutely No Worries If Not, won Best New Show at Leicester Comedy Festival 2022, and sold out entire runs at the Edinburgh Fringe and Soho Theatre. An extra date was put on at London’s Leicester Square Theatre for one night only. The Times described it as ‘the sort of elegantly amusing, surprising and inspiring debut hour that you come to the Fringe to see’, whilst the Guardian listed it as one of 10 Fringe Shows Not To Miss, saying it ‘will have you crying with laughter’.

Ania has appeared on multiple podcasts, including picking what was described by Ed as ‘one of the worst menus ever’ on Off Menu with Ed Gamble and James Acaster. You may have heard her on Radio 5 Live with Elis James and John Robins, Brett Goldstein’s Films to be Buried With, Pappy’s Flatshare, Trusty Hogs, Cuddle Club and The Moon Under Water. She has opened for Ed Gamble, Marc Maron and Catherine Cohen. She has also appeared on ITV2’s The Stand Up Sketch Show, Dave’s Get Off My Phone and Dave’s The Comedy Guide to Life.

As a writer Ania regularly works with comedian, journalist and viral sensation Amelia Dimoldenberg on Chicken Shop Date and Amelia’s Cooking Show, featuring guests such as Ed Sheeran, Charli XCX and Louis Theroux. She has written for The Emily Atack Show (ITV2), Frankie Boyle’s New World Order (BBC2), Newsjack (BBC R4) and The Now Show (BBC R4). Recently she’s written and created corporate content for major brands such as BeautyPie and PrimeVideoUK. She has written multiple well received columns for the Metro (UK), and also publishes her own newsletter on Substack to hundreds of readers. Ania has a growing social media following, including 25k followers on Twitter, and over 1 million views on Youtube with over 20k subscribers. She’s recently branched out into TikTok, amassing over 1.8 million likes. You may recognise her from one of her previous hair colours.

Note: You may recognise Ania from the line up for Live at the Works with Troy Hawke, but tonight she'll be showcasing completely new material!