U to host Clash of the Comics
October 9, 2025
Clash of the Comics, the award-winning live event that sees some of the biggest names in comedy battling against each other and some of the UK’s top professional wrestlers, will air on British TV for the first time in Novmeber on U and U&Dave as a special produced by Expectation (1×160’).
Having previously appeared at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, Just for Laughs London and Melbourne International Comedy Festival as The Wrestling, Clash of the Comics is created by comedians Max & Ivan and its largest event to date was filmed last night at London’s Eventim Hammersmith Apollo.
Clash of the Comics features Ed Gamble wrestling against Phil Wang in the headline title match, with James Acaster issuing an open challenge to fight any comedian or wrestler who can handle him, and Maisie Adam up against multi-time champion wrestler Nina Samuels. Other comics taking part include Max Olesker, Ivan Gonzalez, Ania Magliano, Harriet Kemsley, Amy Gledhill, Sarah Keyworth, Abi Clarke, Max Fosh, Mark Silcox, Adam Kay, Rose Matafeo and Rosie Jones. There is commentary in the venue from Greg James, Sara Pascoe and Nish Kumar and backstage reporting from Olga Koch and Matthew Crosby. Ivo Graham is the event MC and Joe Lycett oversees as Clash of the Comics’ CEO.
Max & Ivan’s Max Olesker commented: “The grandest spectacle in the comedy universe at the UK’s most iconic comedy venue, and being broadcast thanks to the UK’s wisest, most astute and physically attractive comedy commissioners – it’s a (wrestling) match made in heaven. For a comedian who was, many years ago, the UK’s youngest professional wrestler, this has been the journey of a lifetime.”
Lycett added: “After enjoying a crisp Riesling one evening, I awoke the next day to discover I have purchased the world’s finest wrestling-and-comedy league – and I have no regrets. Your favourite comedians will be battling for your pleasure and mine, and I, the all-powerful CE-JOE, will have final say. People say immense wealth has changed me, but honestly, I just have those people taken away.”
The television rights to Clash of the Comics have been acquired for UKTV by Jason Dawson, commissioning executive and ordered by Gerald Casey, genre general manager, comedy and entertainment, and Hilary Rosen, director of commissioning. Clash of the Comics is produced by Expectation and Ben Wicks, Tim Dean and Hannah Layton are executive producers. Clash of the Comics is directed by Ben Hardy, with Marc Shuttle as wrestling consultant and Jo Bucci as head of production.
Dawson stated: “Clash of the Comics has established itself as one of the most unforgettable live comedy experiences in the last decade, and Max & Ivan and Expectation are pulling out all the stops to make sure this first televised event truly brings all the chaos, hilarity, and violence it’s known for.”
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