Stuart Laws

Stuart Laws
Laws in 2025
Born (1984-04-07) 7 April 1984 (age 42)
Taplow, Berkshire, England
OccupationComedian
Years active2011–present
Websitewww.stuartlaws.com

Stuart Richard Walter Laws (born 7 April 1984) is a British comedian. He is the founder of Turtle Canyon Comedy, an independent production company, through which he has directed and produced stand-up specials for comedians including James Acaster, Nish Kumar and Fern Brady. As a stand-up performer, Laws has performed at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe annually since 2013 and has received critical recognition from publications including The Scotsman, Chortle, and The List.

Career

Stand-up comedy

Laws began performing stand-up in the early 2010s and, in 2013, debuted his first solo Edinburgh Festival Fringe show, Absolutely Will Not Stop, Ever, Until You Are Dead. He has returned to the Fringe annually since, and has also performed at the Leicester Comedy Festival, where he was nominated for Best Show in 2021.

His 2023 Edinburgh show, later filmed as the special Is That Guy Still Going? for 800 Pound Gorilla Media, marked a shift toward more personal material, addressing grief, relationships and fatherhood. In 2024, he brought Stuart Laws Has to Be Joking? to the Fringe, a show exploring his recent autism diagnosis and it’s effect on his relationships. The show received a four-star review from The Scotsman, which described it as a "deliciously joke-dense" show by "one of the most skilled and likeable comics" at the festival. Chortle gave the show four stars, noting that Laws had taken his comedy "in a more personally honest direction".

Writing, directing and production

Laws founded the production company Turtle Canyon Comedy. His directing credits include stand-up specials for several British comedians:

The Debuts

In 2024, Laws created, directed and narrated the documentary The Debuts, which followed five comedians — Amy Gledhill, Sikisa, Josh Jones, Lily Phillips and Anthony DeVito — as they prepared for and performed their first full-hour shows at the 2022 Edinburgh Fringe. The documentary was covered in The Guardian as part of it’s reporting on the pressures of the Fringe festival. Laws also wrote a piece for The Scotsman reflecting on what he learned making the film.

Other work

Laws has written for BBC Radio 4. In 2021, he created Grave New World, a comedic mockumentary series about life after the COVID-19 pandemic, featuring an ensemble cast including James Acaster, Harriet Kemsley and Bobby Mair. The series was profiled in The Guardian. He has also contributed to Channel 4's digital comedy platform Mashed and created the Comedians Beer Mat Flipping Championship.

Personal life

In 2024, during the Edinburgh Fringe, Laws was diagnosed with autism, which became a central theme of his subsequent work. He is in a relationship with American comedian Chloe Radcliffe.

Laws is colourblind.

References

  1. 1 2 Shanfield, Ethan (12 November 2024). "James Acaster Lets the Audience Misbehave in New HBO Comedy Special 'Hecklers Welcome'". Variety. Retrieved 13 July 2025.
  2. 1 2 3 "Stuart Laws on comedy: 'There's an arms race of how vulnerable you can be on stage'". The List. Retrieved 13 July 2025.
  3. 1 2 "Edinburgh Fringe comedy reviews: Stuart Laws Has to Be Joking? | Dan Lees: Vinyl Reflections + more". The Scotsman. Retrieved 13 July 2025.
  4. 1 2 "Stuart Laws Has to Be Joking?". Chortle. Retrieved 13 July 2025.
  5. 1 2 3 "Stuart Laws". British Comedy Guide. Retrieved 13 July 2025.
  6. 1 2 "Stuart Laws Opens Up About His New Special, "Is That Guy Still Going?"". 800 Pound Gorilla Media. 28 March 2025. Retrieved 13 July 2025.
  7. ↑ Nish Kumar: Your Power, Your Control - Apple TV. 26 March 2024. Retrieved 13 July 2025 – via tv.apple.com.
  8. ↑ "Ivo Graham: Live from Bloomsbury Theatre". IMDb.
  9. ↑ Dessau, Bruce (18 March 2024). "Fern Brady: Autistic Bikini Queen To Air On Netflix". Beyond The Joke. Retrieved 13 July 2025.
  10. ↑ "The tough reality of a Fringe debut". Chortle. 24 July 2024. Retrieved 13 July 2025.
  11. ↑ Healy, Rachael (28 July 2024). "'They're dumb, but I want to win': comedians tell of the highs and lows of the Edinburgh Fringe awards". The Guardian. Retrieved 13 July 2025.
  12. ↑ "Stuart Laws on what he learned filming five comedians for a whole Fringe". The Scotsman. 31 July 2024. Retrieved 13 July 2025.
  13. ↑ "Grave New World review". The Guardian. 31 March 2021. Retrieved 13 July 2025.
  14. ↑ Hewitt, Phil (26 March 2025). "Comedian Stuart Laws gets personal after autism confirmation". Sussex Express. Retrieved 13 July 2025.