Thursday 27 September 2012

Tonight is Mock the Week night in Leicester - 4 gigs to choose from!

For some unknown reason, tonight is the busiest night in Leicester's comedy calendar since the last Comedy Festival, with four cracking nights to choose from, and there's a distinctly 'Mock the Week' flavour to proceedings...


Mock the Week presenter and all-round fast-talking master of wit Dara O'Briain plays De Montfort Hall as part of his 'Craic Dealer' tour. He appears tonight and tomorrow, tickets are £20 from here: http://www.demontforthall.co.uk/events/events.php/2012/922/dara-o-briain/


Meanwhile at the Y Theatre, fellow Week-Mocker and everyone's favourite bespectacled Bristolian Mark Watson performs his show 'The Information'. According to his press release, the show "may contain optional audience interaction, games, improvisation and unaggressive banter". Tickets are £15 from hither: http://brcomedy.com/events/


And as if that wasn't enough, Just the Tonic also boasts a full line-up of quality stand-ups tonight, also featuring Mock the Week stars Zoe Lyons, Gary Delaney and Ben Norris with compere Darrell Martin. Entry is £8 or £4 with NUS. Get your tickets right here: http://www.justthetonic.com/Leicester-Comedy/shows/thursday-27-sep-2012/892/


And last but not least, The Crumblin Cookie plays host once again to Richard Peel's Megaworld. This is the ideal gig for people who don't wish to pay money to see people they already watch regularly on the telly, as entry is free and to the best of my knowledge Richard isn't a regular on Mock the Week. Expect the silly, the surreal, the musical and the whimsical. There's more info at http://www.richardpeel.com/megaworld/index.html

So there you have it - with four cracking nights to choose from, THERE IS NO EXCUSE TO STAY AT HOME TONIGHT!!

Friday 7 September 2012

Coming up this weekend: Kojo, Bloom, Bligh and many more besides...


Star of the urban comedy scene Kojo brings his 'Special Delivery' tour to Just the Tonic tonight. Kojo has supported such giants as Dave Chappelle and Chris Rock amongst others, and is currently raising his profile with a show on Choice FM, appearances on BBC3 and starring in an upcoming film directed by Noel Clarke. Support comes from young rising star Kevin J, tickets are a tenner and can be acquired through the following portal: http://www.justthetonic.com/Leicester-Comedy/shows/friday-7-sep-2012/836/


Meanwhile over at the Y Theatre tomorrow, Bottle Rocket Comedy Club returns with circuit and TV veteran Adam Bloom, who has been a consistently popular and energetic stand-up for over a decade, notching up sell-out Edinburgh shows and TV panel show appearances galore along the way. He's supported by Yorkshire banter-smith Craig Murray, the twisted and deadpan Julian Deane and up-and-comer Jonathan Elston. Get your tickets at the other end of this link: http://brcomedy.com/events/


Also on Saturday, Just the Tonic features another solid line-up with Danny McLoughlinSimon BlighSteve Harris, and Liam Mullone. Tickets are £11 from here: http://www.justthetonic.com/Leicester-Comedy/shows/saturday-8-sep-2012/838/

Thursday 6 September 2012

REVIEW: Hurricane Pat hugs his way into town


Winner of ITV's 'Show Me the Funny' and walking hug-factory Patrick Monahan was kind enough to pop into the Looking Glass for an hour or so last night, to do exactly what he does best - mucking around with the audience. The judges on comedy's version of the X-Factor tried their best to make him stand still and deliver jokes instead of actually being himself, but clearly they failed (thankfully).

After dashing up from London for the gig, Monahan arrived at the Looking Glass during the interval  to cheers, and treated us to a hugging workshop, lashings of ad-libbing and audience banter, and a small amount of material about Bear Grylls carrying the Olympic torch and the best costume in which to run a marathon.

He then dashed off to get the last train back to London, narrowly missing out on his target of hugging everyone in the room before he left. It was a fairly brief set, but it was enough to remind us why he's so popular on the circuit and why he won 'Show Me the Funny' despite the judges' best efforts to clip his comedy wings.

Also appearing on the night were Ian Crawford, a well-crafted character act with some hilariously daft safety advice about cutlery; and South African Brummie-convert Albert Smith, who was charming enough to get away with his treading-a-thin-line racial material and frequent references to his West Midlands home, although one couldn't help wondering how well the Brum stuff would go down outside the Midlands. The whole affair was compered in the usual assured style by Ship of Fools founder Alan Seaman.

The next Ship of Fools night is Writers Stand Up (part of the 'Everybody's Reading' festival) on Wednesday 3rd October at the Exchange Bar.

Saturday 1 September 2012

...and we're back! SEPTEMBER COMEDY LISTINGS

Hello there comedy fans! Long time no see. Well, August is over, and as well as meaning that Autumn is knocking on the door like an insistent religious nutter, it also means Edinburgh is finished for another year and as a result we have a full programme of comedy shenanigans in the city once again - hurrah!
And what a bumper month it is, with big names like Pat Monahan, Mark Watson, Jack Dee and Dara O'Briain gracing us with their presence, as well as plenty of quality line-ups in a plethora of venues across the city to keep you amused as the nights start to draw in.

Sat 1st - PhilbertoJoe LycettAnthony KingEric Lampaert @ Just the Tonic
Sat 1st - Sit Down, Stand Up (6 acts) @ Upper Brown Street
Sun 2nd - Should I Stay or Should I Go? (comedy gong show) @ Kayal
Wed 5th - Patrick Monahan, Antony King, Ian Crawford, Alan Seaman @ Looking Glass
Fri 7th - Kojo, Kevin J @ Just the Tonic
Sat 8th - Adam Bloom, Julian Deane, Jonathan Elston, Craig Murray @ The Y Theatre
Sat 8th - The Noise Next Door, Danny McLoughlin, Shazia Mirza @ Just the Tonic
Wed 12th - Nibbles with Giggles @ Entropy
Thu 13th - Jason Byrne @ De Montfort Hall
Fri 14th - Sandi Toksvig @ De Montfort Hall
Fri 14th - Live at the Barley Mow (free comedy night) @ the Barley Mow
Sat 15th - Jeff Innocent, Bobby Mair, John Robins @ Just the Tonic
Mon 17th - Fear of a Brown Planet @ The Cookie Jar
Tue 18th - Lions Eat Ice Cream (open mic night) @ Looking Glass
Thu 20th - Jack Dee @ De Montfort Hall
Fri 21st - Junior Simpson, Rob Beckett, David Hadingham @ Just the Tonic
Sat 22nd - Ian D Montfort, Tiffany Stevenson, Bobby Mair, Ben van der Valde @ The Y Theatre
Sat 22nd - Junior Simpson, Rob Beckett, David Hadingham @ Just the Tonic
Thu 27th - Richard Peel presents Megaworld @ Crumblin Cookie
Thu 27th - Mark Watson @ Y Theatre
Thu 27th/Fri 28th - Dara O'Briain @ De Montfort Hall
Thu 27th - Zoe Lyons, Gary Delaney, Junior Simpson, Darrell Martin @ Just the Tonic
Fri 28th - Mark Cram, Ian Hall, Francis Jenking, Leanne Mckie, Richard Peel, Barnaby J Thompson (Dolly Rockit Rollers Fundraiser) @ Firebug
Fri 28th/Sat 29th - Addy Borgh, Dr George Ryegold, Ian Cognito @ Just the Tonic

As always if you have anything to add, email me, tweet @LeicComedyScene or post on  the facebook page.