The posh comedian and self-confessed live music obsessive returns with a new show.
Some comedians treat stand-up as a job. Ivo Graham treats it like a compulsion. The man describes himself as a “gig pig,” someone who lives for shows, whether he’s watching them or performing them. Usually while sprinting through a train station to make the next one. His new tour, Orange Crush, arrives at The Lemon Tree on Friday 29 May 2026. Tickets are on sale now.
Graham’s comedy lies in the tension between where he came from and what he chose to do with it. Eton and Oxford were supposed to funnel him toward something respectable. Instead, he won So You Think You’re Funny? at 18 and never looked back. Now 34, he’s leaned into being what he calls “the UK’s most apologetically posh comedian.”
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Self-awareness is everything
That self-awareness runs through everything he does. His 2019 Edinburgh show The Game of Life picked up nominations for Best Show and Best Joke, while his 2023 Taskmaster run was, by his own admission, more enthusiastic than successful. Even his book from earlier this year leans into it: the title is Yardsticks for Failure.
What sets Graham apart from the circuit regulars is his obsession with live performance in all its forms. He co-hosts Gig Pigs, a podcast about live music with fellow comedian Alex Kealy, and has branched out into producing club nights and touring a theatre show called Carousel. This isn’t someone padding out a CV. It’s someone who can’t sit still.
On stage is where it counts
The new show tackles the big questions: where is Ivo Graham from, where is he going, and will ever slow down? It covers hats, haters and hometown heroes, which suggests the usual mix of personal history and self-examination delivered at pace.
The Lemon Tree show is part of a strong comedy programme for Aberdeen in 2026, with Sara Pascoe, Gary Delaney, Susie McCabe and others already announced. Graham fits nicely into that lineup. He’s a comedian whose whole career has been built on showing up, working hard, and being honest about the results.
