Henry Paker: Pencil Case

Henry Paker brings his new show, Pencil Case, to Beacon Hall on Sunday 22 November. It's a stand-up set that does something a bit different from your usual night out: Paker combines his comedy with live illustration, drawing on stage as he goes. The show played at the 2026 Edinburgh Fringe, so this is one of its stops after the festival run.

If you're not familiar with him, Paker wears a lot of hats. He's an award-winning comedian, writer, podcaster, illustrator and cartoonist, and his work reaches across television, radio, books and animation. You might recognise his voice from the Three Bean Salad podcast, or have seen him on The Last Leg and Russell Howard's Good News. He also writes for Would I Lie To You?, 8 Out Of 10 Cats and Mock The Week, and his cartoons have appeared in The Times, The Observer, The Spectator, Prospect, Joe Wilkinson: My Autobiography and Kay's Anatomy.

That mix of writing and drawing is exactly what Pencil Case is built on. The London Standard described it as pulling laughs out of the air like a magician pulls rabbits out of a hat, while The Times called it wonderfully ingenious. Chortle put it in a different light, saying it combines Daniel Kitson's romanticised notion of introversion with Gary Larson's comic-strip absurdity. Between the stand-up and the live drawing, it's a show that lets you see both sides of his work in one go.

It's on Sunday 22 November at Beacon Hall, part of the Bristol Beacon on Trenchard Street. Doors open at 18:30, the show starts at 19:00, and it finishes around 21:50. Tickets are £28.40, which includes the booking fee.