Nicola Sturgeon to make 'revelatory' comedy debut at King's Theatre

After a turbulent week in Scottish politics, former first minister Nicola Sturgeon will take to the stage of the King’s Theatre in Glasgow in her comedy debut.

On Saturday evening, Sturgeon will host a show titled Books and Banter at the Glasgow Comedy Festival alongside best friend and crime author Val McDermid.

It comes just two days after Sturgeon’s name was cleared in a police investigation into the SNP’s finances.

The Books and Banter event will fill the 1,785-seat King’s Theatre as part of the comedy festival, with fewer than 150 gallery tickets left available.

The duo are expected to share an evening of “chat and laughs” and discuss why reading matters. They will also reveal the books they love, loath, and have laughed and argued over.

Before Christmas, Nicola Sturgeon hosted In the Company of Books with Val McDermid, actor Alan Cumming and thriller author Paula Hawkins. Instagram/Nicola Sturgeon

They’ll be joined on stage by special comedy guests to talk about the books that have left their mark on them.

“Lively chat and lots of laughs guaranteed on what promises to be a brilliant – and revelatory – evening,” the event description reads.

Although many patrons will undoubtedly share Sturgeon’s love of literature, quite a few will also likely to hoping she addresses the news surrounding her career and legacy in recent weeks.

On Thursday, the criminal investigation into Sturgeon was dropped.

Scotland’s former First Minister said she’d been “vindicated” and that there was “never a scrap of evidence” against her.

It came after her estranged husband and former SNP chief executive Peter Murrell appeared in court charged with embezzlement of party funds.

Last week, Sturgeon announced she would not seek re-election to the Scottish Parliament in 2026.

The 54-year-old said that “in her heart”, she knew it the “time was right to open a new chapter” in her life.