Funny with a point: comedians who can carry a message

Most comedy bookings are entertainment. Sometimes you need the comedian to do a job as well: open a wellbeing week, land a neurodiversity message without it feeling like training, or close a heavy conference day with something people actually remember.

These nine can carry a message. Each has a subject they know from the inside, and each gets booked as often for what they say as for the laughs. The four below can hold a keynote slot outright.

Can a comedian deliver a serious message at a corporate event?

Yes, and for some subjects it works better than a straight keynote. Comedy lowers defences on topics people usually brace against, which is why mental health, disability and inclusion messages often land harder from a comedian than from a specialist. The audience arrives expecting to be entertained and leaves having taken something in.

What to check is whether the subject is really theirs. A comedian doing borrowed material on wellbeing is worse than no comedian at all. Everyone here has lived the thing they talk about, or built a career around it.

Em Stroud

Book Em for

Leadership and culture sessions carried by laughter and play.

Em Stroud is the closest thing on our comedy roster to a straight business speaker. She's got twenty years across stand-up, improvisation and clowning, co-founded The Leadership Impact School, coaches executives, wrote Lessons From a Clown and hosts The Comic Coach podcast.

Her keynote, The 12 Secrets for Impactful Leadership in a World of AI, sits on leadership development, workplace culture and team building. Em works as a moderator, panellist, host and corporate speaker, so she can take a keynote slot, chair your afternoon or run a session. Book her when the comedy has to carry the business message rather than sit alongside it.

Learn more and book Em Stroud →

Alex Mitchell

Book Alex for

A neurodiversity headliner your whole workforce will turn up for.

Alex Mitchell reached the final of Britain's Got Talent in 2024 and performs about his own experience of autism and Tourette's syndrome. That combination is rare: a mainstream television name who's also a lived-experience neurodiversity voice, so the booking sells itself internally and still does the work of an awareness session.

He covers neurodiversity, autism awareness, LGBTQ+ and disability inclusion, and sells out solo shows at the Edinburgh Fringe. North Lincolnshire Council booked Alex for their ten-year SEND parent carer conference and reported he "was a huge hit with the parent carer audience". For Neurodiversity Celebration Week or International Day of Persons with Disabilities, he's the obvious first call.

Learn more and book Alex Mitchell →

Jake Lambert

Book Jake for

Hidden disability and resilience, from someone living it.

Jake Lambert has performed on The Royal Variety Performance, Michael McIntyre's Big Show, Mock the Week and 8 Out of 10 Cats, and supported Michael McIntyre and Romesh Ranganathan on tour. His online videos have passed 100 million views.

He's also lived with epilepsy for over thirteen years, and is building a show around it. That makes Jake an unusual booking: a mainstream, Royal Variety-level comic who doubles as a credible voice on hidden disability. For a health and wellbeing week, a disability network event or a conference slot that wants funny with a point underneath, he covers both jobs in one fee.

Learn more and book Jake Lambert →

Alfie Moore

Book Alfie for

Decision-making under pressure, told as comedy.

Alfie Moore spent two decades in the police across Lincolnshire and Humberside, finishing as a Detective Sergeant in the Public Protection Team and working with the Drugs Unit and the Regional Counter Terrorism Team. He now writes and presents It's a Fair Cop for BBC Radio 4, into its eighth series.

His material is about making consequential decisions with incomplete information and no time, which is the daily reality for most of the people in your audience. For legal, insurance, risk, security, emergency services and public sector rooms Alfie is close to a default, and he delivers stand-up, hosting, after-dinner and virtual.

Learn more and book Alfie Moore →

Five more comedians with something to say

These five bring a point of view rather than a keynote. Book them for an evening slot or a conference session where the material should have some weight to it.

André de Freitas

Creator of Comedy Therapy, a format built entirely on making mental health funny. He won Best International New Act at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival, was the first Portuguese comedian to bring a solo show to the Edinburgh Fringe, and works across Europe, Dubai and Australia. The pick when the audience is international and the theme is wellbeing.

Learn more and book André de Freitas →

Nathan Caton

One of the few UK comedians with a self-titled BBC Radio 4 series, Can't Tell Nathan Caton Nothing, working across politics and social justice. Live at the Apollo, Mock the Week and Russell Howard's Good News behind him, and currently narrating the Rocky Horror Show UK tour. Strong for Black History Month and network-group events that want a point of view.

Learn more and book Nathan Caton →

John Gordillo

Perrier-nominated in his own right, and the director behind shows for Eddie Izzard, Reginald D. Hunter and Ross Noble, having worked with over sixty acts including Michael McIntyre. Directing comedy means diagnosing why communication fails and fixing it live, which makes him the standout choice for a comms team or a leadership programme.

Learn more and book John Gordillo →

Nish Kumar

The UK's best-known television satirist for hire. He hosted The Mash Report, co-hosts Pod Save the UK and The News Quiz, and works on climate, income inequality and the British Indian experience. A deliberate choice rather than a safe default, and the right one for sustainability, policy and third-sector rooms.

Learn more and book Nish Kumar →

Marlon Davis

Improvisation is his named specialism, and his profile is built on making complex topics accessible and prompting reflection. Live at the Apollo and Stand Up Central give it weight. He also hosts and does after-dinner, so he can hold a session on cultural identity and then run your evening.

Learn more and book Marlon Davis →

How do you brief a comedian on a serious subject?

Tell them what the session is for. "Neurodiversity Celebration Week, we want people to leave more comfortable disclosing" is a brief. "Something about neurodiversity, forty minutes" is a slot. The first gets you a shaped set, the second gets you a generic one.

Then give them the room's starting point. A workforce that's had three years of inclusion training needs something different from one where this is the first conversation. And say which formats you're open to, since several of these nine do keynote, panel and Q&A as well as a set. Our guide to what you're actually booking when you book a comedian covers how those formats differ.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is a comedian a good choice for a mental health or wellbeing event?

Often yes, provided the subject is really theirs. Comedy gets attention on topics people usually avoid, and audiences take more in when their guard is down. André de Freitas built a whole format, Comedy Therapy, around exactly this. Avoid booking a comic with no connection to the subject.

Can a comedian replace a keynote speaker?

Some can. Em Stroud delivers a named leadership keynote, and Alex Mitchell, Jake Lambert and Alfie Moore all carry a subject at length. Most comedians don't work this way, so confirm keynote capability at enquiry rather than assuming it.

Do these comedians cost more than a standard comedy booking?

A keynote, workshop or facilitated session costs more than a 20-minute set, because it takes preparation against your brief. A message-led comedian doing a standard set is priced like any other comedian at that profile level.

Which of these work for awareness days?

Alex Mitchell for Neurodiversity Celebration Week and International Day of Persons with Disabilities, Jake Lambert for health and wellbeing weeks, André de Freitas for mental health awareness moments, and Nathan Caton for Black History Month.

💡 Need a comedian who can carry your theme as well as the room? Tell us the agenda and the outcome you want, and we'll find the perfect PepTalk expert for your organisation. Send us a message and we'll set up a free strategy call. Remember, it's always a good time to get a PepTalk!