Comedy festival returns to Leicester
Leicester Comedy Festival is set to return to the city next week, with a line-up boasting over 700 events, writes Bethan Tolley.
The festival incorporates comedy, film, poetry and spoken word as well as comic theatre, photographic and art exhibitions, and children’s shows.
Taking place in venues across the city from Wednesday February 8 until Sunday February 26, the event will offer a variety of performances and discussions and the organisers aim is to get Leicester laughing and for the locals to be immersed in the festival spirit.
The festival will include some of the biggest names in UK comedy, from Jimmy Carr, Ken Dodd and Stewart Lee taking to the stage. They will be joined by the likes of Sue Perkins, Johnny Vegas, Sarah Millican and Seann Walsh. There will also be an exclusive interview with Romesh Ranganathan as well as many others.
Geoff Rowe, founder and Director of the festival , said: “Following a truly depressing 2016 across the UK, we have made it our mission to lift spirits by launching the Official Comedy Party.
“Join our celebrations throughout February 2017 in Leicester, as we present another festival bursting with laughs; a comedy show for every taste, the return of the UK Pun Championships, exclusive interviews with top comedians and a host of unique events to put a smile back on the face of all who join us.”
The event will also see the return of the UK Pun Championships, which is now in its fourth year. The event will take the format of a ‘rap battle’ with competitors taking it in turns to pun about the topics picked at random on the night. Last year’s winner Masai Graham scored a double whammy in 2016, as he was also declared the winner of Dave’s Funniest Joke of the Edinburgh Fringe.
The festival, which started in 1994, will also host a range of political comedy shows from the likes of Andy Zaltzman, Josie Long and Matt Forde.
There will also be ‘Beyond a Joke’ seminars and lectures, which include topics from disability and accessibility to religion and offence.
Other highlights will include ‘A Funny City’, which will chart the history of comedy in Leicester since 1979, ‘Comedy in the Dark’, where senses are heightened and language takes on new life and ‘Comedy Heaven’, which is raising money for Prostaid and Big Difference Company.
