A Comedy Thing by Channel 4 has been greenlit for a second year.
The digital channel, which set out to establish a home for the next generation of young new comedians, taps into the UK broadcaster’s heritage in breaking new comedy talent and provides a platform to bridge the gap between panel shows and podcasts with original formats landing weekly, every Sunday, and social clips posted daily.
Produced by Strong Watch Studios, A Comedy Thing delivered 6.5 million views on YouTube in its first year. In the process, it clocked up 165,000 hours of watch time, and attracted an audience that is overwhelmingly young with 86% of viewers under the age of 35.
Year two of A Comedy Thing by Channel 4 will feature some new faces including Eric Rushton, Jin Hao and Kyla Cobbler. The second year will also introduce new formats, including Pun Battle, a quick-fire game where comedians go head-to-head to try and make each other laugh with the driest of puns. The channel will also double down on breakout shows like The Lying Game (pictured) that has found its audience both on YouTube and Spotify.
Charlie Hyland, digital commissioning editor, comedy for Channel 4 said: “We wanted to build a proper home for new comedy – somewhere brilliant young stand-ups can try things, sharpen their voice and find an audience. What’s been exciting is seeing that grow into a real community around them. The UK and Ireland have always been at the heart of this kind of comedy, and this is about creating the space to keep doing that.”
Thom Gulseven, co-founder and executive producer for Strong Watch Studios added: “We love A Comedy Thing and the community we’ve been building around it, and we’re delighted to go again in 2026. It’s an exceptionally exciting time if you – like us – are fans of stand ups in the UK and Ireland. It’s a dream, and just really funny on a daily basis, to work with the best of the best as we showcase what comedy entertainment can look like for a YouTube audience.”
A Comedy Thing by Channel 4 is commissioned by Charlie Hyland with Laura Marks, head of digital commissioning. The channel is produced and managed by Strong Watch Studios, with Thom Gulseven and Ben Powell-Jones as executive producers.
