End of the Road is a festival where the weird, wonderful and wildly original thrive, something that is reflected perfectly in the Comedy and Literature lineup. Alongside the dizzying array of musicians, there is a tightly curated collection of comedians, podcasters and literary giants ready to fill bellies with laughter and heads with big ideas.
Chump’s Comedy takes the reigns of End of The Road’s Comedy programming for the first time with an extraordinary debut.
Leading the comedy charge is Adam Buxton, returning with a special live edition of The Adam Buxton Podcast. Expect rambling chats, surprise guests and a whimsy that never fails to captivate. Bringing unfiltered honesty and razor-sharp wit, Grace Campbell is here to tackle sex, shame and dating disasters with her characteristic fearless charm, whilst Michelle de Swarte’s unabashed storytelling and hilarious takes on modern life will have the audiences in stitches. Elsewhere, the legendary Stewart Lee is back to remind us why he’s still the sharpest knife in the British comedy drawer. Acerbic, unpredictable and always one step ahead of his audience.
Joining the madness, Ivo Graham and Alex Kealy bring their hit podcast Gig Pigs to the stage, blending music chat, relentless quips and stories of questionable gig experiences. Meanwhile, Harriet Kemsley delivers her uniquely charming and brutally honest reflections on love, life and sloths, while Sean McLoughlin talks about existential angst and towering self-deprecation. Helen Bauer, fresh from dominating the stand-up circuit and her wildly popular Trusty Hogs podcast, will be lighting up the stage while rising star Sharon Wanjohi explores the absurdities of modern life and musings on the cartoons that inspired a generation of sexual awakenings.
Adam Riches transforms the festival into a realm of magic and medieval shenanigans with Dungeons 'n' Bastards, where audience members are dragged into an epic quest that treads the line between cult boardgame and total chaos. Putting a musical twist on comedy, Huge Davies and his custom keyboard will have the crowd laughing, and questioning, in equal measure. Rounding out the comedy offering is Celya AB, whose effortless charisma and sharp observations have taken her from Birmingham to the world stage. Viral sketch sensation Chris Hall brings sharp stand-up chops, whilst duo Lorna Rose Treen and Jonathan Oldfield masterfully blend character studies with surreal humour with award-winning results.
On the literary front, End Of The Road hosts a selection of some of the most thought-provoking contemporary writers, curated as ever by the wonderful Julian Mash. Samantha Harvey joins the bill fresh off her Booker Prize win for Orbital, a dazzling meditation on fragility and the vastness of space. Meanwhile, Stuart Murdoch of Belle and Sebastian fame steps away from the band and onto the page with Nobody’s Empire - his tender and witty debut novel that explores love, chronic illness and 90s Glasgow. Shon Faye returns with Love in Exile, a deeply moving exploration of love, loneliness and the search for self-worth. For those who like their music history with a side of wit, Miranda Sawyer offers Uncommon People: Britpop and Beyond in 20 Songs, capturing the madness and magic of an era through its anthems.
John Harris brings a deeply personal story to the festival with Maybe I’m Amazed, a memoir about music, autism and the unexpected ways in which The Beatles and Kraftwerk can build bridges across worlds. On a more mythic scale, Joe Dunthorne returns with Children of Radium, a rollicking tale of family myths, radioactive toothpaste and a daring heist in Nazi Germany. Arifa Akbar, chief theatre critic at The Guardian, explores the power and beauty of the night in her evocative work Wolf Moon: A Woman Travelling into the Dark, while Holly Dawson’s All of Us Atoms examines memory, identity and the stories we tell ourselves. Delving into the world of folklore is Lally MacBeth, whose The Lost Folk: From the Forgotten Past to the Emerging Future of Folk, breathes life into forgotten traditions, alongside punk history with Audrey Golden, whose Shouting Out Loud chronicles the rise and legacy of feminist punk pioneers The Raincoats
Full Comedy Lineup:
Chump's Comedy presents:
Adam Buxton
Grace Campbell
Michelle de Swarte
Stewart Lee
Celya AB
Chris Hall
Dungeons 'n' Bastards (An Adam Riches Gameshow)
Harriet Kemsley
Helen Bauer
Huge Davies
Ivo Graham & Alex Kealy (Gig Pigs)
Lorna Rose Treen & Jonathan Oldfield
Sean McLoughlin
Sharon Wanjohi
Ronan Leonard
Full Literature Lineup:
Samantha Harvey
Stuart Murdoch
Shon Faye
Miranda Sawyer
John Harris
Joe Dunthorne
Arifa Akbar
Holly Dawson
Lally Macbeth
Audrey Golden + Gina Birch
28-31st August 2025 at the Larmer Tree Gardens, info and tickets here.
