Ben

Ben Pope is a stand-up comedian, bookseller, writer and comedy performer.

He has been doing stand-up for over a decade (as an act and MC), gigging regularly across the UK, and taking a host of critically-acclaimed shows to the Edinburgh Fringe - including the solo stand-up hours Baby Sasquatch (2018), Dancing Bear (2019) and most recently The Cut (2025) which received rave four-star reviews from The Scotsman, Evening Standard and The Telegraph, and was nominated for NextUp Biggest Award in Comedy.

His YouTube specials Mr Big Stuff (2022) and Holy Cow (2024) have been viewed 56k times and counting. In 2023 he took Holy Cow on his first nationwide tour around the UK and NZ, including a run at London’s Soho Theatre. Not to brag, but Joe Lycett said it was ‘excellent.’ In 2025 he took The Cut on a new 14-date tour of the UK.

Ben has written for The News Quiz (BBC Radio 4) and DMS Are Open (Radio 4), and has appeared on Comedy Central’s Achievement Unlocked, Dave’s Comedy Guide to Life and the BBC New Comedy Award on Radio 4 Extra. He’s also opened for Simon Amstell, Nick Mohammed (Mr Swallow), Kieran Hodgson, Jazz Emu, Max & Ivan, David Elms and Alex Kealy on tour.

In his spare time (haha) he manages Review, an independent bookshop in Peckham. Ben has largely tried to keep his bookselling and comedy lives separate - but in 2025 he started posting a series of comedy reels about books. These have now been viewed hundreds of thousands of times on TikTok and Instagram. He runs Ben’s Book Club - a live book club comedy show - at the Bill Murray in Angel, and co-runs Comedians Do Poems at Review with comedian Amy Matthews.

Ben’s prose has appeared in the Bookseller, the Idler and Inkling Magazines, and his newsletter Lo! can be subscribed to now - it features illustrations by Will Hughes.

PRaise FOR BEN:

“Pope is superb company” - EVENING STANDARD ****

“A beautifully constructed and communicated slice of life” - THE SCOTSMAN ****

“Could an audience with the actual Pope offer as much?” - THE TELEGRAPH ****

“Bags of charisma” - FEST ****

“A very, very funny show” - ONE4REVIEW ****

“We were utterly hooked” - THE STUDENT ****

“A master storyteller” - DARKCHAT *****

“Undeniably funny and a clear crowd favourite” - EDFEST MAG ****

“Fresh and original … he has an undoubted charm” - SCOTTISH FIELD ****