Here is the Headline. This. Here.

(The following is a 'lost' post, written for publishing on 2nd May, which I just found in my drafts folder. How very remiss of me!)

Leicester's finest topical wits gathered downstairs at the Looking Glass last night to record a pilot episode of a new panel show entitled Here Are the Headlines. Tom Young is pitching the idea to BBC Radio Leicester in the hope of bagging himself a series, using an edited version of last night's proceedings as the pilot.

The setup is a familiar one, with Young and Chris Norton Walker as the 'regular' panellists, joined by guests Jim Shields and Lindsey Warnes-Carroll. Hosting was Bruce Edhouse, who in his most (quiz)masterful voice, asked questions about international, national and local news for the panel to give their best funny answers, and engage each other in witty, off-the-cuff banter.

Obviously it's a tried and tested format, and on the evidence of last night it should work pretty well on the radio. The guests were largely entertaining in their delivery of both prepared and ad-libbed material (even if occasionally the panellists forgot they were doing this for the radio and entertained us with a visual gag), and the inclusion of locally-focused and audience-inspired rounds gives a nice twist that should appeal to Radio Leicester.

It will be interesting to hear what makes it to the final cut, as there was plenty of laughter when things went awry, lines were fluffed or the panellists reacted snappily to each other's prepared jokes bombing. It would be nice to hear a quiz that kept in these kinds of blooper-reel moments, but I suspect the pilot will need to sound as slick as it can to secure the makers a series. Good luck with the pitch guys!

Nibbles with Giggles returns to Entropy

The deliciously funny marriage of pie and comedy returns to Entropy on Hinckley Road on Wednesday Night, so if you fancy eating fine food and then being entertained by talented young comedians, you know what to do.
Here's the facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/events/457551850928768/

Lions Eat Ice Cream presents 'Shoddy Vague Awards 2012'

Not been nominated for an Oscar this year? Nor a Bafta? Not even a British Soap Award??? Well this awards ceremony is for you then. The monthly craziness of Lions Eat Ice Cream at Hub is combined with the glitz, glamour and abundance of smug self-congratulation that is the awards bash.
Described as "shit awards given to people you don't know,with 'celeb' guests and guaranteed fun times", it promises to be a wonderfully silly occasion, so put your best frock on and skip down the red carpet to Hub tomorrow night (Tue 15th)
Find out more on the facebook event page https://www.facebook.com/events/307124376025128/

We're back, baby! May comedy listings...

Hello there you lot. Sorry I've been away for a little while, hope you haven't been too lost without your regular comedy updates. Of course you haven't - you didn't even notice, did you?

Anyway, I know we're already half way through May, but here are your listings for the rest of the month, so you can stop shivering and wretching like character from Trainspotting now:


Tue 15th - Lions Eat Ice Cream (open mike night) @Hub
Wed 16th - Nibbles with Giggles (charity comedy night with pie) @Entropy
Thu 17th - New Act Night (Ben Hustwayte MC) @The Cookie Jar
Fri 18th/Sat 19th - Barbara Nice, Rob Deering, Barry Castagnola, Romesh Ranganathan @Just the Tonic
Mon 21st - Laughing Glass @ The Looking Glass
Tue 22nd - Student Comedy Forum @Just the Tonic
Fri 25th - Isy Suttie @The Y Theatre
Fri 25th - Shaggers Comedy @The Cookie Jar
Fri 25th/Sat 26th - Nick Helm, Romesh Ranganathan, Dan Evans, Tim Clark @Just the Tonic
Sat 26th  - Leanne Mckie, Ian Crawford, Liam Mullone @ The Black Horse, Aylestone
Sun 27th - Should I Stay or Should I Go? @Kayal
Thu 31st - Andrew O'Neil, Rob Beckett, Nick Cranston, Rob Coleman, Tony Jameson MC @The Cookie Jar


There, that should keep you off the crack for a while. As usual, if you know of anything else that might have slipped my gaze, drop me a line on leicestercomedyfestival@gmail.com, on the Leicester Comedy Scene Facebook page or on Twitter @leiccomedyscene, and I'll duly add it to the list.
It's good to be back :)

REVIEW: Christmas, Stokes et al delight a packed Y Theatre

The Y Theatre was pleasingly packed for Bottle Rocket Comedy Club's second line-up this month. Clearly their ploy of offering a number two-for-one tickets worked well, as the extra bodies provided a wealth of atmosphere that the previous night had been sometimes lacking.

Even so, compere Fergus Craig's audience banter fell a little flat to begin with, but to be fair he wasn't exactly given gold dust to work with. He justifiably mocked Leicester's comedy-goers as not being exactly rock'n'roll, after talking to an IT guy and an accountant. Craig was, despite the slow start, an entertaining host for the evening, more so when he was doing his own material - he is particularly skilled in his use of accents and made the most of this, combining German words with Glaswegian diction to produce the scariest sounding accent ever. Another high point was his incredibly showy, hip-hop entrance after the interval, which he followed up with some gentle mockery of Flavor Flav's autobiography, which was warmly received.

The first act, Vikki Stone, delighted the audience with her bawdy songs, over-expressionate features and musical theatre-style voice. Whilst her largely relationship- and sex-based subject matter was pretty lowest common denominator, it was presented in a very likeable way and despite some very clever lines, the biggest laughs were inevitably produced by the dirtier material. Songs such as "I Need a Dildo" and an epic yet filthy ode to Phillip Schofield drew big applause, but my own personal favourite was her final song, which primarily consisted of her singing the theme tune to Jurassic Park over and over again in tribute to a former lover. Doesn't sound that funny in writing but the sheer randomness of it certainly tickled me...

Next up was rising local star Chris Stokes. His vulnerable, geekish persona combined with a very relaxed style and understated, often deadpan delivery went down a storm with the crowd. His style is becoming ever more natural and less deliberately slow (a-la-Stewart Lee), and his appeal seems to be growing as a result. His material was accessible and anecdotal, but it's that understated, slightly apologetic delivery which adds extra comic weight to often quite simple jokes. Fresh from winning Best Show at February's Comedy Festival, this is one act which seems clearly destined for bigger things. Good luck, sonny boy...

Headlining the evening was larger-than-life kiwi Jarred Christmas. With the audience nicely warmed up, his mix of brash yet tongue-in-cheek self-confidence, skewed observations and local references provided a suitably bombastic finish to the evening. Christmas is loud and likeable, cheeky and clever, and is able to ad-lib with the audience or on his own with great aplomb. His quick-witted interactions with the crowd left one wishing perhaps that he had been the compere and Fergus Craig had been one of the acts. In fact, as if to reinforce this perception, Fergus had actually left the building by the end of the show, leaving Jarred to wrap the show up in his usual excitable style.

And if you're at all curious to know what comedy's headline performers like to do after a show in Leicester, we caught Jarred and Chris legging it out of the Y to go and catch the late showing of Avengers Assemble at the Showcase. So now you know.