Rachel Clarke
18 February, 2025
News

Pure Leo brings 20+ shows to Platform for Glasgow International Comedy Festival 2025

Pure Leo will be making their Glasgow Comedy Festival debut with 18 solo acts and 20 shows over five consecutive days. The diverse line up will showcase acts from Scotland and beyond.

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The programme will also include a special compilation night ‘Pure Laughs’ which is Pure Leo’s flagship comedy night usually performed in areas outside of the big cities, such as Greenock, Dunoon, Kilmarnock etc. Pure Laughs will be headlined by Rosco McClelland. 

Pure Leo is also proudly supporting several LGBTQIA+ acts this year including: Eliott Simpson and Colombian, nonbinary comic Tomas Bepalo. 

All shows will be taking place in an iconic venue in the heart of Glasgow, Platform.

Pure Laughs at Platform
Pure Laughs at Platform Credit: @PureLeoltd

The full programme is as follows: 

Anu Vaidyanathan: WIP This is a new material night from Anu Vaidyanathan whose debut show BC:AD has now toured worldwide.

Rebekka Pewterbaw: Hourglass: WIPLike sands through the hourglass, these are the eggs in Rebekka’s ovarian reserve. Despite endless warnings about accidental pregnancy, she finds herself single at the tender age of 42 juggling job loss, ex utero pregnancy, polyamorous partners.

Programme
Programme Credit: @pureleoltd

Sam Serrano: MarsIn Sept 2021 Sam Serrano was spat at in the street for wearing make up. Fast forward to 2024 and they’ve written a show about it to make hate crime lucrative. Sam Serrano (as seen on Comedy Central, Dave, and UkTv) is one of the fastest rising stars on the comedy circuit. With “killer lines” (chortle) that “put that X in X Factor” (York Press), Serrano is a “game changing act” (concept comedy) and shouldn’t be missed.

Pure Leo Presents: Pure Laughs Pure Leo presents: Pure Laughs. A night of stand up comedy headlined by award winning Scottish comedy legend Rosco Mclelland. This Pure Laughs is something special and the night features some of the best talent on our GICF programme: Sarah Bradley, Bernie Casey, Amanda Hursy, Eliott Simpson & Hitesh Rathore.

Tomas Bepalo: What Gets BetterTomás Bepalo is a nonbinary comic, under the trans umbrella, from Colombia and other labels+ whose life seems more challenging than others, because they keep making the most stupid decisions at every turn.

Programme
Programme Credit: @pureleoltd

LA: Fake Friends Real Stories 

Andrew Cornelius performs an hour-long stand-up show that also features some of his Los Angeles friends.

Hitesh Rathore: Chips Cheese and Curry Sauce

This show is a comedic and heartfelt journey of Hitesh, a young guy who moved to Scotland with high hopes and hilarious misconceptions.

Rachel Jackson: American Horror Story WIP

American Horror Story (WIP) is all about the time award winning Scottish comedian Rachel Jackson moved to Tennessee for love but instead lost her mind.

Eliott Simpson

Critically acclaimed asexual comedian Eliott Simpson has spent the past decade telling jokes about not wanting sex, so what happens when they find themselves in love with someone who does?

Men With Coconuts: Improvised Director’s Cut

The award winning Men With Coconuts are bringing the Improvised Director’s Cut to the fair city of Glasgow! We snuck into Hollywood’s secret underground and got our hands on the original director’s cuts of your all-time favourite movies.

Mrs Smith: See Me

Mrs Smith was an ordinary teacher in an ordinary school until she went viral on Facebook & accidentally became a stand-up comedian. Her wit and insights into daily school life, politics, socks, swearing & the side effects of a full moon inspired the sell-out show Mrs Smith – See Me which debuted at the 2023 Edinburgh Fringe.

Bernie Casey: Bombscare It's a work in progress, building from stand up gigs the past year. It's observational comedy, talking about growing up in the north of Ireland during the Troubles to a long career in Scottish education.

Beth Knight: Who Told You To Be Small

Glasgow-based artist Beth Knight used nude self-portraits to overcome the shame she held about her body. She tackled the misogyny around the standards of beauty that kept her hiding her body for decades by diving into the fear with art and laughter.

Hatty Preston: Toxic Waste

London-born, Chicago-built comedian Hatty Preston is touring her acclaimed debut show: ‘Toxic Waste’.

Sarah Bradley: Just Like Other Girls

After spending her formative years trying to be ‘not like other girls’, Sarah Bradley is celebrating all things feminine – from rosé to romance novels, horoscopes to hot celebrities, inconvenient crushes to crying at inconvenient times.

Two Shades of Funny

Louis Utieyin (Kinz Luiz) and Hitesh Rathore, the comedic duo behind Two Shades of Funny, bring their radio show live to the GICF stage.

Lance Wagon: Be My Wife

Poet, philanthropist, and viscount Lance Wagon (Jennie Howitt) is coming to Glasgow to find a new wife.

Promoter: Pure Leo

Dates: 12th - 16th March

Location: Platform, Glasgow.

Website: www.pureleo.co.uk

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PureLeoLtd

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/pureleoltd/

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@pureleoltd