The Battersea Barge

Hilarious Comedy Shows on River Thames

It seems I've drifted into Battersea Barge, a floating mecca of comedy and conviviality on the gentle sway of the Thames. Part boat and part stand-up backroom, this quirky venue delivers not just laughs but a viewing of Battersea's grand illuminated vistas as well—a double spectacle if ever there was one. Upon embarking, you're instantly charmed by the floating banter emanating from host and leading comic Michael Hackett, whose wit is as sharp as a finely chiselled oar, steering the audience through the rapids of one-liners and irreverent panache. The cosy upstairs deck hums with laughter and clinking glasses, a balm for London’s workaday melancholy, although one ought to steady themselves for the floaty sensation—lest a belly full of IPA lends an uncanny puppet-like wobble to the evening.

Sustenance arrives in the form of delicious pizza sourced nowhere exotic—unless Essex counts—as well as the city’s ubiquitous ‘House Prosecco,’ and yet somehow both taste better on water. As sunlight fades behind the power station, the comedic acts take no prisoners, delivering material marked with a dark comedy label—a sometimes contentious cushion for the faint-hearted but pure delight for irreverence seekers. While you might contend with bar-service bottlenecks and seating choreography reminiscent of a sardine tin, these mere hiccups keep the evening lively, adding to the prevailing atmosphere. Indeed, where else can you touch both soul and peg with such cheeky aplomb aboard the Thames? The Battersea Barge invites its patrons to chart a course between comedy and camaraderie—proof enough that London’s laughter has legs, even of the sea-bound variety. — Penelope Savory