The Leicester Comedy Festival is an annual comedy festival held in a number of venues across

Leicester Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands. The city l ...

, England early in the year.

History

The festival started in 1994 with 40 events in 23 venues over 7 days throughout

Leicestershire Leicestershire ( ; postal abbreviation Leics.) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East Midlands, England. The county borders Nottinghamshire to the north, Lincolnshire to the north-east, Rutland to the east, Northamptonshire ...

, attracting 5,000 people. The festival now attracts over 60,000 people from all over the world and is seen as one of the 'Top 5 comedy festivals in the world' (The Guardian) Since then many top stand-up comedians have performed in the festival including Jo Brand, Jack Dee,

Dave Gorman David James Gorman (born 2 March 1971) is an English comedian, presenter, and writer. Gorman began his career writing for comedy series such as ''The Mrs Merton Show'' (1993–1998) and '' The Fast Show'' (1994–1997), and later garnered a ...

Rory Bremner Roderick Keith Ogilvy "Rory" Bremner,"Rory Bremner". '' Who Do You Think You Are?''. Wall to Wall for BBC One. 2 February 2009. No. 1, series 6. (born 6 April 1961) is a Scottish impressionist and comedian, noted for his work in political sati ...

Simon Pegg Simon John Pegg (né Beckingham; born 14 February 1970) is an English actor, comedian, screenwriter, and producer. He came to prominence in the UK as the co-creator of the Channel 4 sitcom ''Spaced'' (1999–2001), directed by Edgar Wright. H ...

Alan Davies Alan Roger Davies (; born 6 March 1966) is an English stand-up comedian, writer, actor and TV presenter. He is best known for his portrayal of the title role in the BBC mystery drama series ''Jonathan Creek'' (1997–2016) and as the only perm ...

, Bill Bailey,

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and

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. The main programme is also complemented by

workshops Beginning with the Industrial Revolution era, a workshop may be a room, rooms or building which provides both the area and tools (or machinery) that may be required for the manufacture or repair of manufactured goods. Workshops were the onl ...

and outdoor street events to encourage the development of comedy skills. Every year towards the end of the Festival the

Leicester Mercury Comedian of the Year The ''Leicester Mercury'' Comedian of the Year is held during the Leicester Comedy Festival every February. All the finalists picked are nominated by the UK's top comedy clubs and must meet certain criteria. The competition is sponsored by the ''Le ...

is announced. To begin with, the festival lasted for just seven days. In 2010 the duration increased from 10 days to 17 days, then in 2015 it was increased to 19 days. The 2021 festival, staged during the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

, took place online.

The UK Pun Championships

2014 saw the inaugural UK Pun Championships, at the festival, hosted by Lee Nelson. The winner was Darren Walsh. The competition included the line "My computer's got a Miley Virus. It's stopped twerking." Walsh went on to take part in the O. Henry Pun-Off World Championships in

Austin, Texas Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the county seat, seat and largest city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and Williamson County, Texas, Williamson co ...

. In 2015, Leo Kearse beat off competition from fellow comedians Rob Thomas and reigning champion Darren Walsh to become the UK Pun Champion. Leo won the contest with such jokes as ''"I was in hospital last week. I asked the nurse if I could do my own stitches. She said “suture self”'' and ''"Growing up on a farm, my dad was always telling me to use the indoor toilet. But I preferred to go against the grain"'' 2016 saw the return of the UK Pun Championships hosted again by Lee Nelson. This year the winner was

West Midlands West or Occident is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sun sets on the Earth. Etymology The word "west" is a Germanic word passed into some ...

comedian Masai Graham, with jokes such as ''"What's the difference between a hippo and a zippo? One's really heavy and the other is a little lighter"'' and ''"I love playing PGA Golf, but to say I have a weak shot on the greens would be putting it mildly"'' The 2017 UK Pun Championships saw a new location in

De Montfort Hall De Montfort Hall is the largest music and performance venue in Leicester, England. It is situated adjacent to Victoria Park and is named after the "Father of Parliament", Simon de Montfort, Earl of Leicester. History The hall was built by the ...

and host in Jason Byrne. It also saw the introduction of a new layout for the show, with the "Pun Off's" taking place within a boxing ring that had been constructed within the centre of the stalls. Lovdev Barpaga aka "The 'Pun'jabi Warrior'" won against Julian Lee in the final. Lovdevs jokes included ''"Pakistani Pirates. Urdu they think they argh?"'' and ''"I think my Colombian neighbour's a drug lord, but I just car tell."'' The 2018 UK Pun Championships returned to

in the boxing ring with host Jason Byrne on the 13th of February. After being beaten in the 2015 by Leo Kearse, Rob Thomas returned and beat 2nd time finalist Julian Lee to the title. Rob Thomas' puns included: ''"When Leicester won the league, my mum bought a candle to celebrate. Now it just languishes in the middle of the table"'' and ''"Brexit. It's like a catheter for Britain. We're no longer in continent."''

References

{{reflist

External links

Official siteNews, interviews and reviews, from the Leicester Mercury
Leicester Festivals in Leicestershire Comedy festivals in England Annual events in England 1994 establishments in England Recurring events established in 1994

History

The UK Pun Championships

See also

References

External links