The Laughter Loft at the Kings Head on the city’s High Street is celebrating 20 years of comedy at Galway International Arts Festival this year.

Based in the tiny Ruby Rooms, it regularly hosts Ireland’s top comedians, mostly working on new material and this year is no exception.

Foil Arms and Hog were there on Wednesday and are also performing this Thursday, July 18.

Shane Daniel Byrne will be there this Friday and on Saturday, it’ll be Al Porter.

Tuam’s finest, Martin ‘Beanz’ Ward, will be there on Sunday. Martin Anglo will be providing the laughs on Monday, July 22, and it’ll be Gearóid Farrelly on Tuesday, followed by Danny O’ Brien on Wednesday and the ever-popular Neil Delamere next Thursday. John Colleary will be there on Friday, July 26, and on Saturday, the humour will come courtesy of Paul Marsh and Justin Cass.  For the closing gig on Sunday, July 28, it will be the one and only  Karl Spain.

For many, the Laughter Loft is a festival within a festival. With a different act each day, it offers comedy fans a rare chance to catch some of Ireland’s big-name comics in such an intimate setting. As always, this year’s shows are compered by  host Gerry Mallon.

There’s no pre-booking for Laughter Loft at the Ruby Room, the smallest venue that many of these comedians will be playing this year.

Doors open at 12.30pm with all shows starting at 1pm. Admission is €15 and tickets are available on the door only, on a first-come, first served basis.

For more information, check out the www.thekingshead.ie or www.giaf.ie.

Pictured: Gearóid Farrelly will be providing the comedy next Tuesday, July 23.