Ben Van der Velde is a stand-up comedian, actor, improviser and presenter, who, over the past few years, has spread joy and nonsense to all four corners of the British Isles, as well as Greece, Denmark, Sweden, Switzerland, Estonia, Latvia, Finland and Norway.

He is a regular and warm host performing everywhere from RAF Bases, large corporate events, hosting comedy workshops and doing audience warm-up for Deal Or No Deal. On top of that, he has taken commissions to perform a voodoo re-marriage ceremony, founded the Church of the Holy Kazoo with comedy legend Mark Thomas, walked the entire London Underground network to raise money for The Refugee Council and even took part in experiments at The Royal Society that revealed him to have the most infectious laugh of any human, rat or monkey.

Ben is a regular performer at the Edinburgh Festival, where he has performed four critically-acclaimed shows: Chain Letter, Strudelhead, Barbarians and Sidekick.  In 2016 his most recent show received 5 and 4 star reviews, whilst several of jokes made it into lists of ‘Best Joke at the Fringe’ compiled by The Scotsman, i-News and The Huffington Post.

“Highly promising…an accomplished comic.” Time Out

“Wonderfully improvised riffs showcasing his impressive spontaneity.”Edinburgh Festivals Magazine

“He must have one of the highest jokes-per-hour counts in Edinburgh this month.” ***** Reviews Hub

“Exquisite comic timing…wonderfully clownish physical comedy.” British Theatre Guide

“Flaunted his razor-sharp wit to hilarious effect leaving the audience bent over double.”Three Weeks