WIN tickets to Paul Foot's 'Retrospective' triple-bill at The Cookie!

Surrealist comedian Paul Foot can never be accused of doing things 'normally'.

Ages of Foot - Paul through the years

He speaks in a strange, archaic-sounding dialect of his own invention; he moves like each one of his limbs has its own unique agenda; he dresses like a 1970s space-beatnik and consistently sports one of the most ridiculous hairstyles known to man.

All of this has led to Foot establishing himself as one of the most unique comics of his generation, with a loyal international following (known as his 'Connoisseurs') and a clutch of award nominations and wins to his name. Despite the oddness of his act, he has appeared on the likes of Russell Howard's Good News, 8 out of 10 Cats and Would I Lie To You?, and was a regular on Never Mind the Buzzcocks with his mate Noel Fielding.

Get a triple dose of Foot at The Cookie.

This Autumn, he is obviously in nostalgic mood, because he has decided to tour his favourite venues with not one new show, but three old ones. 'Retrospective' sees Foot return to his regular Leicester haunt, The Cookie, this Thursday, Friday and Saturday, to perform his shows 'By the Yard', 'Still Life' and 'Kenny Larch is Dead', each show followed by a question and answer session. Tickets for all 3 shows are available here.

And since he is going to be in Leicester for three whole days, he has decided to see the sights of Leicester, and has launched a drawing competition amongst his Connoisseurs, the winner getting to spend the day with him at the National Space Centre. For more details on that, visit his 'web log'.

CD cover for 'Ash in the Attic' - it's very good.
He talks about Shirehorses a lot. 

WIN! WIN! WIN! Did I shout that loudly enough? Probably not.... WIIIIIN!!!

Now, being the tremendously generous folks that they are, The Cookie have offered followers of Leicester Comedy Scene not one, but two chances to win a pair of tickets to ALL 3 SHOWS! This is pretty much the best prize we've ever offered on LCS, so make sure you enter and you could be enjoying a triple bill of surrealist genius on us!

To enter, all you have to do is share (facebook) or retweet (twitter) the Leicester Comedy Scene post about these upcoming shows, and The Cookie will select two of you at random, each receiving a pair of tickets to all 3 Retrospective shows. Shows take place at The Cookie, 68 High Street, Leicester, on Thursday 8th, Friday 9th and Saturday 10th October 2015, all shows are advertised as starting at 7:30pm.

So get sharing, and good luck!

Last call for Edinburgh Previews and five-day Fridge fun!

Hi folks! 

hope you've been enjoying the Edinburgh previews that have been going on at The Cookie, The Globe and Firebug. There have been some excellent shows so far and the previews continue tonight wth Nish Kumar & Matt Forde at Firebug, and Joel Dommett & Ivo Graham at The Globe,  as well as Andrew Ryan & Nathan Caton at The Cookie on Thursday, and Gary Delaney & Sarah Kendall at Firebug on Sunday.

The 'coolest' line-ups in town (geddit?) - Summer Fridge

Just a quick reminder that the five-day Summer Fridge event kicks off today at The Cookie, with delightfully daft character act and festival favourite Ian Hall performing his hour show 'Out of Touch, Out of Time', supported by clever, skewed thinking of Graham Milton, the fantastical musings of Richard Peel and the abstract physical comedy of Cheekykita.

This is the first of five days of comedy from Leicester Fridge, the team that burst onto the scene at this year's festival, with a series of sold-out showcases of Leicestershire-based comedians and a giant wave of marketing and promotion to help big up the local talent, getting nominated for Best Promoter and Outstanding Contribution to the Festival along the way.

Again this time, there is a plethora of local acts, with some previewing their Edinburgh shows (The Two Syds, Jason Neale, Alex Hylton & Sarah Keyworth, Thomas Rackham & Lucy Thompson), some resurrecting their hit shows from February's Leicester fest for those that missed them (Ian Hall's 'Out of Touch Out of Time', Matt Hollins' 'Blabyshambles', Lindsey Warnes Carroll's family-friendly 'The Further Adventures of Shirley'), the odd mixed bill (Proper Funny Showcase @ The Criterion, The Comedy Inquisition @ Manhattan34, support acts for Ian Hall @ The Cookie).

There are also some cracking acts from further afield - the Fridge have invited promoters who run regular local comedy nights to book their favourite acts to perform their Edinburgh previews for the delight of the Leicester folks. So we have the critically acclaimed 'Weirdos' Beth Vyse (with a brand new show) and Adam Larter (who has written a show especially for Leicester), TV's dark prince of stand-up Bobby Mair, quirky and unique Leicester Mercury Comedian of the Year finalist Stephanie Laing, 2014 English Comedian of the Year Jack Campbell, and international sell-out kids show Juliette Burton's 'When I Grow Up'.

It's certainly worth taking a punt on a few shows, because they are all Free Entry, with a bucket at the end so you can chuck in a couple of quid if you enjoyed the show, to help cover the comedians' and promoters' expenses!

I hope that's alcohol-free beer - Bob's Blundabus

And that's not all - after the Fridge ends on Sunday 26th, there are a few more treats in store for you before everyone clears off to Edinburgh, including chaos and laughter on board Bob Slayer's Blundabus on Wednesday 29th; interactive, interdisciplinary, mixed media shenanigans from Commentary at The Phoenix on Thursday 30th; and finally an Oxjam fundraiser with a fine bill of up-and-comers at The Exchange on Friday 31st.

This has been a truly great summer of comedy for Leicester, so I hope you've managed to get out and see some shows instead of just lounging about in the sunshine waiting for Autumn - and if not, go and see some of the above - you could probably do with a good giggle, right? :)

Cheers,
Paul.

Cookies, Fridges & Blundabuses - it must be Edinburgh Preview season again! (PART 3 of 3)

Welcome to Part 3 of our Edinburgh preview season round-up. We've already covered the extensive summer programmes from The Cookie and Leicester Fridge, but that's not all that's happening in Leicester this summer...

All partied out - Matt Forde

Bottle Rocket Comedy have just announced their preview shows, which are taking place, as always, upstairs at Firebug. There will be a couple of return visits by acts who are already previewing elsewhere in the city (ie, Bobby Mair, Alex Edelman & Nish Kumar), along with some political satire from Matt Forde and upfront social commentary from Imran Yusuf.

Cookies, Fridges & Blundabuses - it must be Edinburgh Preview season again! (PART 2 OF 3)

Welcome to part 2 of our 3-part Edinburgh Preview season round-up. We've already looked at the impressive line-up at The Cookie this year (if you missed that post, click here to read it).

Next, and making their preview season debut, is Leicester Fridge. They made a big splash at this year's DLCF with their extensive promotion of local acts and special showcase events, and now they're back with an ambitious five-day programme of shows across four venues.

Cookies, Fridges & Blundabuses - it must be Edinburgh Preview season again! (PART 1 OF 3)

"Ooh it comes around so quickly every year doesn't it?" is the kind of vacuous twaddle you hear dribbling out of people's sound-holes every time an annual event is looming. Well none of that here - Leicester Comedy Scene so enjoyed the last Edinburgh preview season that we're literally foaming at the mouth at the prospect of more Fringe previews, rendering us unable to utter even the most basic inane small talk. So here we go with the first of three posts detailing the various delights we can look forward to in Leicester during late June and July (which shall hitherto be referred to as 'preview season').