Brace yourselves for an autumnal comedy invasion! (1 of 2)

Greetings fellow laugh-gannets, I do hope you all had a great summer. It was great to see so many awesome Edinburgh preview shows in Leicester, and then head up north to the Fringe itself in August. Whilst there, I was able to check out some great new shows, many of which are likely to be heading our way over the next few months, starting very soon indeed! All the comics have had their customary recovery period (known to the lay-person as September), and now, as the nights start to draw in, the nights out get funnier.
There is a whole host of choice comedic shenanigans heading our way in Autumn, so I'll stop waffling and get on with telling you exactly what to look out for!

PART ONE: AUTUMN FRIDGE

Those lovely folks at Leicester Fridge are always working behind the scenes in Leicester to bring you the very best of the local scene, and they've excelled themselves this time, by putting together a terrific programme of events that not only showcases the city's regular comedy nights, but adds to them with special one-off events, including a kids' comedy special for half term, various full Edinburgh shows, the odd new work in progress and a couple of charity specials. The full programme is as follows:


Saturday 8th October at Manhattan34, from 2pm:

Leicester Fridge @ OXJAM TAKEOVER

Every October, Oxjam Takeover fills the Cultural Quarter full of live music, and this year the programme includes live comedy too - a whole day of it in fact, as Comedy & Cocktails' Dave McGuckin presents an exhaustive list of stand-ups from around the Midlands from 2pm onwards, so head down to the basement at Manhattan34 if you have an Oxjam wristband and you fancy checking out some great up and coming comedians.

https://www.facebook.com/events/1766267556948345/

Thursday 13th October at The Criterion, 7:30pm:
Club Smashing featuring Pat Cahill - D.O.T.T. (full Edinburgh show)

Of all the shows I saw this year in Edinburgh, Pat Cahill was the one that made me laugh the most, to the point where I had tears rolling down my cheeks and was hooting like a Tusken Raider (or a sea-lion, if that reference means nothing to you) in the front row. His blend of good-natured silliness, traditional folk-style songs about rubbish modern phenomena, and cheeky music hall demeanour got the better of me, so I'm very pleased he's coming to do his full show as part of a Club Smashing special, with support from Sarah Johnson and Scott Liversidge, compered by Smashing's regular hosts Ian Hall and Bruce Edhouse.

https://www.facebook.com/events/170866876683811/

Wednesday 19th October at Attenborough Arts Centre, from 11am:
MINIFRIDGE: KIDS’ COMEDY (3 family-friendly shows)

MiniFridge debuted successfully at this year's Leicester Comedy Festival, and offers three shows in a day specifically for the kids, each appealing to a different age group. So your Half Term entertainment this October consists of:
11am: Jungle Walk - an interactive animal-themed storytelling adventure for ages 2 to 7

https://www.facebook.com/events/1224866390886449/

1:15pm: Shirley & Friends: Adventures in Space - the loveable Shirley returns, to invite you to dance, sing, make crafts and help make her dream of being sent into space come true! Suitable for all ages, including young-at-heart adults!

https://www.facebook.com/events/336817129990788/

3:45pm: Cracked! - a fun interactive opportunity for kids to use their detective skills and help solve a case relating to a favourite nursery rhyme character, for ages 7 to 13.

https://www.facebook.com/events/892724747527401/

Saturday 29th October at The Criterion, from 6pm:
Jack Campbell - Boy Girl Brain (full Edinburgh show)

followed by PROPER FUNNY COMEDY at 8pm,
featuring Alex Hylton - I Came, I Saw, I Complained (full Edinburgh show)

A bumper feast of comedy treats for your Saturday evening entertainment. Your starter is rising star of the professional stand-up circuit Jack Campbell, who presents his hour of high quality observations and anecdotes, quick-witted audience interaction and even a little bit of sweet romance thrown in for good measure. Your main course is Proper Funny, featuring the usual mix of the best up-and-coming stand-ups from the Midlands and beyond. It's all topped off with the sweet dessert that is Alex Hylton's Edinburgh show, which is a gag-packed hour full of side-splitting tales of his life on the road as a travelling comedian. Don't forget to bring some Rennie!

https://www.facebook.com/events/1607296042897273/

https://www.facebook.com/events/996251927111543/

Tuesday 1st November at Manhattan34, 8pm:
COMEDY & COCKTAILS featuring Daniel Nicholas - Scripted (full Edinburgh show)

Comedy & Cocktails returns with the usual monthly showcase of new acts and experienced ones doing new material, capped off this month with Daniel Nicholas' Edinburgh show, which is full of bonkers audience interaction and silly games, as well as Dan's trademark mix of surreal one-liners and disarmingly poignant truth-nuggets.

https://www.facebook.com/events/181980858905408/

Thursday 3rd November at Gray’s Café (LCB Depot), 7:30pm:
BEN ENNIS - A FOX'S TALE (work in progress)

Gearing up for his first solo show at Leicester Comedy Festival, this is the first trial run for Ben's hour of cheeky wordplay, well-written gags and humorous tales of his time spent as a mascot for our very own Premier League Champions. Head along for a right Leicester love-in!

https://www.facebook.com/events/574733372715891/

Saturday 5th November at The Criterion, 8pm:
THE SAME FACES - ‘Uncle Armando’ Special

The Same Faces have been drawing a great regular crowd for several years now, with their made-up mayhem in the style of Whose Line Is It Anyway? But for their Autumn Fridge special they're doing something a little different. If you're a fan of improv comedy, you'll probably have heard of 'Uncle Armando' already. For those of you that haven't, it's a long-form improv game in which a special guest delivers a storytelling-style monologue, based either on an audience suggestion or on their real-life experiences, and the improv group perform on-the-spot sketches based on the monologue.

https://www.facebook.com/events/1791531861085231/

Sunday 13th November at the Little Theatre, 7:30pm:
Laughing with LOROS featuring Lucy Thompson - Lady

This show had its first outing at February's Leicester Comedy Festival, and was so well received it bagged Lucy a nomination for ‘Best Debut Show’. Sadly she didn't take it to Edinburgh, but lucky for us she's doing the full show again at The Little Theatre. Lucy's well known for her quirky observational stand-up, but this show is more of a multi-character piece in the vein of Victoria Wood, as we meet the various women who feature in the 365th edition of LADY magazine.

https://www.facebook.com/events/546916332167708/

Find out more about Leicester Fridge and the many ways in which they showcase the thriving local comedy scene at www.facebook.com/LeicesterFridge