The Laughter Factory turns 30: the Dubai comedy club that gave Jack Whitehall his first overseas gig
The Dubai comedy club that gave Jack Whitehall and Kevin Bridges their first overseas gigs turns 30. Its co-founder explains why she still hides the chairs.
The Laughter Factory, the Dubai stand-up club that has hosted Jack Whitehall, Kevin Bridges, Joe Lycett and Jason Manford, celebrates its 30th anniversary in 2026. Co-founded in 1996 by former touring DJ Gail Clough and business partner Duncan, it began at the Hyatt Regency Deira and now runs across the city at various venues.
Gail told What’s On how a DJ ended up running one of the region’s longest-standing comedy nights, which future stars passed through, and what’s planned for the anniversary.
From DJ booth to Dubai comedy club
Before comedy, Gail spent seven years DJing around the world. She says she was among the first Western DJs to play in China and to cross into East Berlin after the Wall fell. “I think I was one of the world’s first diversity hires,” she says. “There were no women DJs in the 80s. Can you believe DJing was a job that no one wanted.”
The first night at the Hyatt Regency Deira
The pair expected a modest turnout. Almost 500 people came. “There were no online sales, so I was counting cash on the door before I got on stage to host,” she says. “Duncan was putting out chairs… I accidentally took my handbag on stage. I forgot I wasn’t in a DJ booth.”
Early mentoring came from Don Ward, founder of London’s Comedy Store. His best advice, borrowed from a Jam lyric, was to give the public what it wants. His worst was “Have the fish”, delivered on a trip to India.
The comics who played Dubai before they were famous
Jack Whitehall and Kevin Bridges both played the club in 2008, aged 20. For each of them it was their first show outside the UK. “They both looked like a deer in the headlights when they got on stage,” Gail says, before adding that both took to Dubai audiences immediately.
Joe Lycett arrived in 2015, when his TV profile was already rising. That fits the club’s booking model: established acts whose television careers are taking off but who are still playing small and mid-sized rooms.
Jason Manford still returns, and he’s the comic Gail says she’s proudest of. “He still finds time to support small clubs like the Laughter Factory,” she says. After 30 years, she argues, a regular, comedy-literate crowd lets comics “do a more interesting set”.
Why a comedy club beats a solo show
Each night features four comics, so if one has a bad night, three others can pick it up. Gail says the worst part of the job is scouting acts on a screen: “Stand-up is a live medium. Laughter needs to be shared.”
After every show there’s a party with the comics, and she hides the chairs so strangers have to talk to each other. “It’s wonderful watching the ice melt between strangers and even better watching them returning to the club together the following month.”
Surviving lockdown
The pandemic came closest to closing the club. “We lost everything. We are still recovering financially,” she says. When Dubai reopened, the team were “like people-smugglers”, getting comics in from around the world to keep shows running.
The Laughter Factory 30th anniversary line-up
Anniversary shows feature Kelsey De Almeida and Aiden McQueen, two acts Gail tips as future arena headliners. Longer term, the club plans more pop-up shows in Dubai’s suburbs.
As for the legacy? “We want to kill sadness, one joke at a time.”
Details at thelaughterfactory.com
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