The award-winning comedian, writer, actor and presenter will appear in the Main Auditorium, with tickets starting at Dh195. The show is open to audiences aged 16 and above and is presented by GME Events as part of the festival’s seventh edition, which runs from October 9 to 18.
Ryan’s Dubai appearance places her among an international and regional line-up spread across several venues, including Dubai Opera, Coca-Cola Arena, New Covent Garden Theatre at Mall of the Emirates and Pepperoni Comedy Club. Organisers say this year’s programme spans more than 40 shows and features performers working across several languages.
The Canadian-born, UK-based comic has built her career around candid material drawn from family life, relationships, ambition, celebrity culture and the contradictions of modern life. Her stage persona combines tightly written observations with an intentionally direct delivery, often turning personal experiences into material about wider social expectations.
Dubai Opera describes Ryan as one of the UK’s most recognisable comedy performers, citing her Netflix stand-up specials In Trouble and Glitter Room and television work including The Duchess, 8 Out of 10 Cats, Mock the Week and Taskmaster. She wrote, produced and starred in The Duchess, the Netflix comedy series centred on a single mother navigating relationships and parenthood.
Her management also lists Missus and First Born Daughter among her stand-up specials, alongside television appearances on programmes including Have I Got News for You, Celebrity Gogglebox, The Last Leg and Live at the Apollo. Ryan also hosts the podcast Telling Everybody Everything.
The October 12 date marks a return to Dubai after her previous appearance in the emirate in 2024. Festival organisers are billing the performance around the frank, quick-witted style that has become central to her live work, with material expected to range across family, relationships and contemporary life.
Ryan’s appearance comes on one of the busiest nights of the festival. British comedian Mo Gilligan is also scheduled at Dubai Opera on October 12, performing The Mo You Know World Tour 2026 earlier in the evening. A separate Dubai Comedy Festival showcase at Pepperoni Comedy Club begins its run the same day.
The wider programme opens on October 9 and continues for 10 days. Confirmed acts at Dubai Opera include Munawar Faruqui on October 11, Zarna Garg on October 16, John Achkar on October 17 and 18, and Amit Tandon on October 18. Vir Das is due to perform at Coca-Cola Arena on October 18.
The festival is designed to mix touring international performers with regional and UAE-based comedy. Its programme includes English-language stand-up as well as shows in Arabic, Hindi, German and French, alongside club showcases and emerging performers.
Ryan’s Dubai date also falls shortly before the publication of her new book First Born Daughter on October 22. Publisher Bonnier Books describes the book as a mixture of memoir, social commentary and reflections on family dynamics, parenting, women’s lives, ageing and the pressures associated with being an eldest daughter. It follows her 2021 book The Audacity, which became a Sunday Times bestseller.
After Dubai, Ryan is scheduled to continue with UK appearances connected to First Born Daughter, including dates in Bristol, Manchester, Birmingham, Brighton and London later in October. Her official tour schedule lists the Dubai Comedy Festival performance as her international engagement immediately before those dates.
For Dubai audiences, the October 12 show offers a stand-alone Ryan performance rather than a mixed-bill festival set. Dubai Opera lists the start time as 9.30pm, while the festival schedule says doors open at 9pm. Tickets are non-refundable under the venue’s published conditions.
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