Winchester Comedy Festival: Autumn Gala 2026

Felicity Ward

Known for her iconic screen roles, TV appearances and her international, multi-award winning live stand-up comedy tours, Felicity’s no-filter, authentic and hilarious attitude to life has made her a darling of critics and fans alike. 

Forging a career in both Australia and the UK, Felicity can be seen across the world, this October, when she stars in the lead role of Hannah Howard, in the Australian premiere of The Office on Amazon Prime. 

On the live circuit, Felicity is a Chortle UK Club Comic of the Year nominee and has been nominated for the biggest awards in live comedy: ‘Best Comedy’ at Edinburgh Festival Fringe, Melbourne International Comedy Festival and Adelaide Fringe; and has won ‘Best Australian Act’ at the Perth Comedy Festival and ‘Best Local Act’ at the Sydney Comedy Festival, twice.

Ray Badran

Ray Badran is an Australian comedian and writer, based in London where he is the resident host of Knock2Bag comedy night at Moth Club. 

Ray splits his time between London and Sydney and is a regular on the international festival circuit - performing full shows and on galas at the Edinburgh Fringe, Melbourne Comedy Festival, Brighton Fringe, Sydney Comedy Festival and more. 

As seen on Live at the Moth Club (Dave), No Experience Necessary (Comedy Central) and Jonathan Ross’ Comedy Club (ITV).

Esther Manito

Esther Manito recently won Best Headliner at the 2026 Chortle Awards and is currently touring her extremely well reviewed show Slag Bomb.

Esther is an Arab Essex comedian who completely overturns expectations of what that identity might suggest. She’s appeared on Live at the Apollo (BBC), The Stand Up Sketch Show (ITV), and Hypothetical (Dave), and her voice can be heard across platforms including BBC Sounds on Russell Kane’s Evil Genius, as co-host of Radio 4 Extra’s Newsjack Unplugged, as well as CBBC’s Bitesize Parents, BBC’s Breaking the News, and Russell Kane’s Boys Don’t Cry.

Tom Deacon (MC)

Since winning the Chortle Student Comedy Award in 2007, Deacon has hosted his own BBC Radio 1 show, done some telly (The Rob Brydon Show, Fake Reaction, Dave’s One Night Stand), and followed The Champions League around the world as The Eurofan - notching up over one million views on YouTube. 

A slick, upbeat, confident and loveable performer.