Hat Trick takes its comedy act on the road
The Derry Girls producer is launching a live comedy touring arm with Queenie Miller and Chump’s Comedy, starting at Edinburgh Fringe.
By Bianca Rossi · Entertainment Editor
3 min read
Hat Trick Productions is stepping off the TV set and into the theatre aisle.
The UK company behind Derry Girls and How To Get To Heaven From Belfast has launched a live comedy touring arm, according to Deadline. The new operation is being created with Hat Trick scripted comedy producer Queenie Miller and Chump’s Comedy.
Its first run of shows is set for next month at the Edinburgh Fringe, where the slate includes Freya Parker: An Hour of Decay!, Ada & Bron: The Origin of Love and Kimberley Hart-Simpson’s play Amnesia.
Deadline reported that Miller has produced live shows at Edinburgh across the past two years. Chump’s Comedy is described in the report as a Margate-based live comedy producer.
Hat Trick widens its comedy net
Hat Trick founder Jimmy Mulville framed the move as a natural stretch for the company, which has long been associated with comedy on television.
“We are at heart a comedy company and want to produce comedy wherever people want to watch it, television, YouTube and in theatres,” Mulville told Deadline.
The launch adds live touring to a company best known for screen work. Hat Trick’s credits include Derry Girls, How To Get To Heaven From Belfast and Smoggie Queens, according to Deadline.
The move also comes after another notable comedy hire. Deadline reported in June that Hat Trick had brought in BBC comedy boss Jon Petrie as creative director.
Edinburgh timing adds extra bite
The new live arm arrives at a loaded moment for the Edinburgh comedy circuit. Deadline noted that this year’s Edinburgh Fringe is the last one scheduled to run alongside the Edinburgh TV Festival before the TV event moves to Greater Manchester in 2027.
That planned move has already drawn criticism from senior comedy figures, according to Deadline. The report said some executives have argued the separation will damage the mix between the Fringe and the TV Festival, a relationship credited with helping bring through performers including Richard Gadd and Phoebe Waller-Bridge.
Deadline also reported that Avalon boss Jon Thoday, whose company rivals Hat Trick, recently said “no one from Avalon” would attend the Greater Manchester TV Festival “if I’ve got anything to do with it.”
For Hat Trick, the first test of the new arm will be Edinburgh, where live comedy careers can gather speed quickly. Its opening line-up puts stand-up, character comedy and theatre into the same touring push, with Parker, Ada & Bron and Hart-Simpson among the first names on the bill.
The company has not announced further tour dates in Deadline’s report, but the launch puts Hat Trick into another corner of the comedy business at a time when producers are looking beyond traditional television slots.
This story draws on original reporting from Deadline.