PREVIEW: Delaney, Donnelly & Lawrence fill the long weekend with laughter

It's Bank Holiday weekend (yay!), the weather's looking good (yay!) and spirits are high (yay!) - what better excuse to get out there and check out the fine comedy line-ups coming up over the next few days? WELL? I'm waiting for an answer...

Tonight and tomorrow at Just the Tonic we have the nation's premier purveyor of smart, finely-crafted one-liners Gary Delaney, with support from everyone's favourite 'bloke' Paul McCaffrey, angel-faced filthmonger Diane Spencer, and wide-eyed silliness from Eric Lampaert. Tickets vary in prices and are available from http://www.justthetonic.com/leicester-comedy/

Meanwhile over at The Y on Saturday, Bottle Rocket Comedy present the delightfully deadpan Carl Donnelly, who's cemented his reputation as one of the most inventive and assured comics on the circuit with appearances on Mock the Week and Russell Howard. Carl is backed up by likeable Irishman Andrew Ryan, grumpy Geordie Carl Hutchinson, and intelligent wordplay from Jessica Fostekew. Tickets are ten of your actual pounds, get 'em here: http://brcomedy.com/the-y/bottle-rocket-comedy-club-4th-may-ft-carl-donnelly

Then on Sunday, the unstoppable Andrew Lawrence brings his latest show 'Andrew Lawrence is Coming to Get You' to Just the Tonic. A few years back, Lawrence was the first act I ever reviewed and I instantly fell in love with his misanthropic take on the world and his stunningly-delivered rants filled with inventive insults and lashings of self-deprecation. Back then he was calling himself 'too ugly for TV', but the quality of his material has overcome this perceived barrier and he is now regularly seen on Channel 4's Stand Up for the Week as well as popping up from time to time on telly's big 'showcase' programmes (you know which ones I mean). Tickets be here: http://www.justthetonic.com/leicester-comedy/shows/sunday-5-may-2013/1057/

LCS Special Offer - FREE TICKETS to Just the Tonic!!

Okay comedy fans, I've got a real treat for you today. Obviously I want you to go and see as much quality comedy as possible without bankrupting yourselves, and the good folks at Just the Tonic want as many people to come to their fine shows as possible. So with these twin aims in mind, Just the Tonic are very kindly offering supporters of Leicester Comedy Scene FREE TICKETS to their Thursday Night Laughs show, this Thursday, starring Mrs Barbara Nice, Chris Martin and David Murphy, with compere Darrell Martin.

Yes, you heard correctly - free tickets dammit! Normal price for this gig is £5 (or £3 with NUS), but if you book your tickets online at http://www.justthetonic.com/Leicester-comedy/shows/thursday-25-october-2012/913/ and enter the promotional code LEICESTERCOMEDYSCENE, you will get 'em for absolutely nowt!

How's about that for a good deal, eh? You'll get to see the inimitable Barbara Nice - the comic creation of Janice Connolly - a middle-aged Stockport housewife who'll have you laughing at your own problems one minute, then dancing around and waving your hands in the air the next. She has real mass appeal, having supported both Peter Kay and Johnny Vegas recently, and regularly works the audience into a frenzy "with the affectionate attitude of a playgroup leader at a wild Iggy Pop concert" (love that phrase - not one of mine, obviously).

You'll also get to see Chris "Why hasn't he changed his stage name?" Martin, who as well as not being the bloke from Coldplay is also an intelligent and inventive standup, adept at building a rapport with the audience and providing witty observations as well as social commentary. He's appeared on Dave's One Night Stand and his Bitesize Comedy Podcast with Carl Donnelly was selected in the Guardian's Top 10 Podcasts of 2010.

So get yourself a free ticket by ordering the amount you require on the JTT website and entering LEICESTERCOMEDYSCENE in the 'Promo Codes' box. It works - I've just tried it! And if you're umming and erring, just remember - the more people that take up this offer, the happier JTT will be and the more likely they will be to offer us more awesome deals in the future!