FESTIVAL DIARY DAY 16 - Romesh rules and Al rocks the Korma-bunker

So on to Saturday 23rd Feb, the penultimate day of Dave's Leicester Comedy Festival, and my appointment with destiny as I took my place on a panel of comedy luminaries to judge the prestigious Leicester Mercury Comedian of the Year competition.

I met with the judges in the lobby of the Ramada Encore Hotel, where most of them were staying for the night. I was first to arrive and I sat sipping tea with Geoff Rowe the festival director, as one by one the great and good of the comedy industry joined us - Steve North (General Manager of the Dave TV channel), Andy Leitch (formerly part fo the festival organisers, now working for Off the Kerb who represent some of the biggest stars in comedy - seriously check out their website and be amazed at the number of famous names!), Sarah Farrell (Head of Content & Development for Comedy Central), promoter Mick Perrin (whom I had watched on BBC iPlayer just the previous night along with his star client Eddie Izzard) and last but not least Bruce Dessau, comedy reviewer for the Evening Standard and writer of the 'Beyond the Joke' blog). To say I felt honoured and privileged to be amongst such company is a somewhat cheesy and oft-used sentiment, but thoroughly appropriate under these circumstances. After the meeting and greeting we headed several yards along the street to Chutney Ivy and enjoyed a lovely selection of Indian treats and a chatted over a cheeky beer, before proceeding to The Y Theatre to take our seats at the judges' table.

Host - Jarred Christmas

FESTIVAL DIARY DAY 15 - 'Work in Progress' could mean anything really...

Righty, apologies again for the lateness on this one but I've had to wait until I cleared the enormous backlog of work that had built up at home whilst I was out galavanting around the festival, and boy has it been a stressful few days. but hey, that's not your concern is it? (the correct answer is 'No.')

He's got work to do - Daniel Simonsen

FESTIVAL DIARY Days 12, 13 & 14 - Chicken-bitches and Could-do-betters

Righty - got some catching up to do here. Had lots of work to do in the last few days so forgive me if I haven't been providing you with your daily dose of comedy festival reviews - I'll start bringing you up to speed now, with a summary of Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday at the festival.

I ventured out on Tuesday night to see Nando's presents Chris Ramsey & Friends at the Y Theatre. It felt like a very different experience to the other gigs I've been attending throughout the festival. A big theatre, corporate sponsorship, big names from the telly, an audience full of young people who you distinctly suspected didn't go to see much comedy - it was a world away from the mostly small gigs full of dedicated comedy fans in pub basements or rooms above curry houses that I have become used to frequenting of late. In the lobby, Nando's staff handed out free chicken wraps to hungry punters, the room contained row after row of Nando's staff, and at the back of the stage behind the performers hung a huge Nando's banner - tonight, we were all chicken's bitches.

High energy - Chris Ramsey

FESTIVAL DIARY DAY 12 - No reviews please...

Hello comedy fans, and I apologise in advance for the lack of detail in today's Festival Diary. The only show I had on my schedule for yesterday was the work-in-progress double header from James Acaster and David Trent at the Belmont Hotel, and the first thing I was told when I got there was that their management had requested no press/reviews please, thank you very much.

BONUS FESTIVAL REVIEW - Grainne Maguire at the Belmont

With over 500 shows in 17 days, obviously I can't see everything at Dave's Leicester Comedy Festival. Clearly I need either a cloning machine or some willing minions to review the shows I can't make it to. With my cloning technology still stuck in the development stage, I sent local wordsmith Louise Jenkins along to watch Grainne Maguire at the Belmont on Saturday evening, and here's what she had to say...

 'The one to watch out for' - Gráinne Maguire

Well hello - Louise here reporting for duty! 

Despite his very best efforts, the godfather of LCS can’t be everywhere reviewing everything at once these two weeks, so it’s with great pleasure (and mild terror) that I contribute to this dazzling festival diary (I’ll try my best not to f*ck it up). I’ve been tasked with sniffing out some of the festival’s ‘quirkier’ acts and so Gráinne Maguire (with all her lovely quirks) would seem to fit the bill!

Admittedly, I hadn’t done my research prior to last night’s engagement at the Belmont (ooh err), so was pleasantly surprised when greeted with such a charming nervous energy as opposed to the deadpan humour her choice of wardrobe might suggest (boy does she rock the Famous Five chic). Instead, we were treated to what felt like an hour round a mate’s house discussing awkward crushes, annoying Londoners (aka Kate Middleton) and being single with the itch that you’re always missing out (haven’t we as fully grown adults all been there).

From the fields of Ireland’s unofficial ‘Clara Lara Fun Park’ to her quest for love at a Labour party conference, Gráinne wove her adventures as an unconventional go-getter with few blips whilst mastering the art of the (slow moving) high five. Her theories behind the Tories’ lack of female voters (closing libraries as reverse psychology) and wanting to change them with her vagina even had me giggling (and that’s coming from someone who hates politics)!

Hailed as the ‘one to watch’ in the past, I would instead argue that she's ‘the one to watch out for’ as, for a woman with ‘surprisingly low standards’, beneath that layer of Kirstie Allsop exists a remarkable intelligence with more to her than meets the eye. Bravo.

(And, ahem, between friends and that - where did you get those brogues from?)

FESTIVAL DIARY DAY 11 - Kearns dazzles between afternoon bromance and evening darkness

What a beautiful day it was yesterday - the sun was beaming down, it wasn't bone-chillingly cold or depressingly wet - why, it almost felt like spring was in the air. So, full of seasonal optimism, I decided to leave the bike at home for once and take a leisurely afternoon stroll down to Kayal, to see Scott Bennett & Phil Pagett perform their show True Bromance.

Just good friends  - Phil Pagett & Scott Bennett

FESTIVAL DIARY DAY 10 - Pat Cahill, Liam Mullone & Ian Crawford

Ten days in, there is a distinct pattern emerging to my daily festival routine. Namely: sleep in as late as possible; do my write-ups; do lots of coughing and nose-blowing; dose myself up with medication and load my pockets with tissues for the evening shows, which go by in blur of laughter, moderate amounts of alcohol, smoking and comedy-based chatter; then puff, pant and swear my way back uphill to my house and collapse in bed. Livin' the dream... And yesterday was no exception - even the lure of the mid-festival party at Just The Tonic's late bar was not enough to keep me out past half ten... I must be getting old.

Original thinker - Pat Cahill

Thankfully, though, I was treated to 3 very different sets of enjoyable stand-up along the way.

FESTIVAL DIARY DAY 9 - Doc Brown shines amongst the Friday night chaos

Good Lordy - it's the middle Saturday of the festival already! That means we're half way through, and I've seen upwards of 20 shows in a week (most of them good); cycled about 40 miles in the process; met and wittered at lots of performers, judges, punters and promoters; had my brain thoroughly rewired; made a cameo appearance in one show, and spent the last 3 days coughing and sneezing. Thankfully I haven't felt moved to walk out of a show yet (unless it's to rush off to another show), although I did consider it last night - read on, comedy fans...

FESTIVAL DIARY DAY 8 - Tony Law shows us how it's done

After my brief descent into madness on Wednesday it was back to normality last night.Well, if you can describe Tony Law's Maximum Nonsense at Firebug as normality, that is.

Bizarre and wonderful - Tony Law

FESTIVAL DIARY DAY 7 - fever dreams at the Looking Glass

Dear readers, I must apologise.
For I know that you have come to expect from me your daily round-up of the previous evening's festival shenanigans. Well it is my sad duty to inform you that yesterday I fell prey to the dreaded 'festival lurgy'. Too many days of racing from show to show in the icy cold, then sitting in hot, airless rooms stuffed with people and their various germs, meant that I was unable to go out into the festival yesterday, as my brain and body became gripped with an intense fever, and I became delirious for several hours.

I have had fevers before, but I have never in my life experienced fever dreams like these. Obviously I have spent most of my time in pubs and bars watching comedy shows recently, so it makes sense that most of my feverish mental journey was framed by the bare brick walls reminiscent of the Looking Glass basement - I went on some incredible and ridiculous adventures, but every now and then I would look around and realise I was still down there, surrounded by semi-familiar figments of my imagination, with no sense of time, no way out.

FESTIVAL DIARY DAY 6 - Paul Foot, Bridget Christie and A Finger of Judge

And here we go again... Tuesday was full of promise, with two of the more well-known 'alternative' acts performing in the city.

Alternative Star - Paul Foot

First up was Paul Foot at the Cookie Jar. Regular readers of this blog will know I'm a big fan of the mulleted oddball. Love him or hate him, to see his act is to know that there are people out there who are thinking in a totally unique way and are not afraid to just run with it on stage, taking you to places you never thought you'd go. He has never tried to tailor his act for a mainstream telly-viewing audience, which ironically, has led to him getting a fair bit of TV coverage, having popped up next to Noel Fielding on Buzzcocks, done a spot on Russell Howard's Good News and is now featuring in Comedy Central's Alternative Comedy Experience. Last night's show was all that you'd expect from Foot, starting with a ten-minute intro in which he awkwardly introduces himself to the audience and imagines out loud the different reasons why they might have come to see his show, eventually coming to the conclusion that the next hour's performance will more than likely ruin a couple of marriages within the audience.

FESTIVAL DIARY DAY 5 - Rhys Mathewson and Simon Donald

After the explosion of life and laughter over the weekend, the city centre was strangely quiet last night. If it wasn't for all the DLCF banners and posters dotted around the place, one might've been surprised to learn that there was a comedy festival happening at all.
But happening it was, albeit on a smaller scale than over the weekend. I had two shows on my schedule and hoped to make it to a couple more afterwards, but due to a slight logistical f**k-up on my part I had to head home early to avoid being locked out of my house all night (so apologies to those performing in the late shows at the Looking Glass that I never made it to).

Value for money - Rhys Mathewson

FESTIVAL DIARY DAY 4 - Rob Deering, Markus Birdman and comedy chat with Johnny Vegas

Wow, can't believe we're on Day 4 already - it's all flying past in a big comedic blur at the moment! Yesterday was another long and busy day, the morning spent writing up Saturday's many activities and the afternoon/evening spent cycling from gig to gig, to home, to gig, to gig, to another gig and back home again, in the driving rain/sleet/snow. Why do we do it to ourselves...? Coz we bloody love it, that's why!

First up was Mark Olver's afternoon chat show Dancing About Architecture at Just the Tonic, which was a fascinating hour of comedians discussing various aspects of the life of a stand-up. Mark was joined onstage by Johnny Vegas, Norman Lovett, Markus Birdman, Carly Smallman (who had to dash off at half time to perform at Kayal) and Adam Hess - although it should be noted that the character of Johnny Vegas was very much under wraps, allowing the man who plays him, Mike Pennington, to speak openly and honestly about being a stand-up, without the more unbalanced character of Johnny taking over. We were treated to some fascinating insights from the panel, including how they deal with nerves (drink often being the key, it seems); how male comedians can avoid going on stage sporting a urine stain (the trick is to tuck your little fella under, so any excess dribbleage heads down the inner thigh); Norman revealed how his Holly dialogue was shot in the early days of Red Dwarf (apparently Holly was just meant to be a voice to begin with, but managed to persuade Grant & Naylor to include his disembodied head as well). 

Fascinating insights: Lovett, Vegas, Hess, Birdman & Olver

FESTIVAL DIARY DAY 3 - Four shows and a seminar...

Saturday was rather a hefty day of comedy-viewing...

It began unreasonably early, with a 10am seminar at DMU's Pace building, in which a panel of comedy luminaries discussed the development of live comedy from the origins of the Alternative Comedy movement at the end of the 1970s (or the beginning of the 80s - this was a matter of some contention), through the 90s 'Comedy is the new rock&roll' era to the current environment of megastar arena tours and the lucrative panel show circuit, and ended by asking what's in store for the future of live comedy. It was a fascinating two hours, often dominated by the always lively and forthright Kate Copstick, who left the audience in no doubt as to her views on the current crop of TV comedians - stating in her typically reserved manner that she could shit in a bag, put an 'As seen on Mock the Week' sticker on it and people would flock to see it live. Also on the panel was Comedy Store founder Don Ward, who revealed his plans to record shows at his clubs and screen them in theatres across the country, as well as starting to stream them live on the net. This was greeted with some concern from the panel, who wondered whether this sort of thing would stop people bothering to go out to see live comedy in the smaller venues - as if to ask why would people go out and pay money to see half-formed sets by inexperienced acts when they can stay at home and watch top acts live in HD for free. This fear was tempered, though, by the feeling that there is perhaps too much live comedy around at the moment, and the good acts and venues would always survive, whilst the less competent would have to give up or find their own audience online.

FESTIVAL DIARY DAY 2 - the morning after the night before...

It's ON.
The festival has begun with an explosion of colour, laughter and large animals. It all began with the VIP launch party at Chutney Ivy, which has been transformed once again into Dave's Curry House by Reach Marketing - and a fine job they've done, with red carpet and other luxury trimmings, full-size knight in armour, several large animals dotted around the place and photos of past performers adorning the walls. Outside we could see Captain Comedy wandering the streets along with a posse of Nando's promoters led by a giant chicken - which immediately led everyone to wonder whether we'd see Peter Griffin turn up at some point to fight it. Sadly not... yet.

FESTIVAL DIARY DAY 1 - and so the odyssey begins...

Dave's Leicester Comedy Festival Begins today - HOORAY!!!! After months of planning and preparation, the city explodes with comedic mayhem this evening, as the city plays host to over 500 shows over 17 days!

I've been down into the town today and there's banners everywhere, Festival Staff handing out brochures, comedians sitting around in venues drinking coffee and venue owners rushing around making last-minute preparations. I also clocked a mildly terrifying laughing sound, playing on a loop at the top of the High Street, and a life-size bear outside Chutney Ivy! It's all go...

LCS INTERVIEW - Viz creator Simon Donald talks swear-words & comedy heroes

Sultan of Swearing - Simon Donald

If you've ever found yourself sniggering at a copy of the foul-mouthed comic Viz (and who hasn't at some point in their lives?), then the chances are you'll know that it was created in the late 70s by Geordie likely lad Simon Donald and his brother Chris. These days Simon's a stand-up comic and hasn't worked on the mag for years, but is still heavily associated with the cavalcade of sweary, politically incorrect characters it brought to life, such as Sid the Sexist, the Fat Slags, Roger Mellie and Buster Gonad. A hugely popular Viz spin-off was their regularly updated 'bible of swearing' known as Roger's Profanisaurus, which enhanced the vocabulary of filth-fans across the country, and currently holds over 300,000 rude phrases. 

So it's safe to say Simon knows a fair bit about swearing then. That's why he's taken to the road to educate as well entertain you with his show Simon Donald's School of Swearing, which comes to The Exchange Bar in Leicester this Monday (11th Feb). I took time out from huffing and puffing about how busy I am, to bother Simon last week with some questions which he was kind enough to answer, instead of telling me to go f*** myself...

Just the Tonic offer - Festival Day Tickets and Johnny Vegas for £2.50!!

Just to let you know, Just the Tonic are running some fantastic offers for their festival shows - as well as 'Five Pound Fridays', in which you can see 5 great stand-ups for just a fiver, they are also offering day tickets for their weekend shows, meaning you can buy one ticket and see all the shows on that day at a special discounted price, saving up to £12.50 - woohoo!

The tickets allow you to stay in the venue between shows, where food & drink will be served, and stay around for the late night bar after the Saturday shows (careful now). Here are those weekend line-ups in full (click on the date for tickets):

Saturday 9th Feb - Keith Farnan, Alfie Moore, Jeff Innocent, Tim Clark, Just the Tonic Comedy Club
Sunday 10th Feb - Shappi Korsandi, Johnny Vegas, Rob Deering, So On And So Forth plus others
Saturday 16th Feb - Gary Delaney, Mark Little, Rob Rouse, Wil Hodgson, Mark Nelson plus may more
Sunday 17th Feb - The Nosie Next Door, The Silky Pair, Francesca Martinez
Saturday 23rd Feb - Just the Tonic Comedy Cub, John Robins, Ivan Brackenbury plus more
Sunday 24th Feb - Seann Walsh, Shazia Mirza, Casual Violence plus others

Some top names in there I think you'll agree!

They also have a super-special deal on for this Sunday afternoon (10th Feb) - the unpredictable whirlwind of comedy Johnny Vegas will be appearing on Mark Olver's Dancing About Architecture chat show, and a limited number of tickets are half price (just £2.50 for a bona-fide comedy legend!!) To get your tickets, visit http://www.justthetonic.com/Leicester-Comedy/shows/sunday-10-feb-2013/945/ and enter the special promo code JOHNNYCHAT

WIN 2 tickets to see THE RUBBERBANDITS at DLCF!

It's competition time again - woohoo!!

Imagine two guys from Limerick in tracksuits, with plastic carrier bags on their heads, performing demented hip-hop songs with titles like "Horse Outside', 'I Wanna Fight your Father' and 'Spastic Hawk'. Intrigued? Of course you are.

FESTIVAL PREVIEW #4: The Best of the Rest of the Fest (part 2)

Well hello there. With just 3 days to go until the start of the festival, I hope you're getting as excited as I am about the prospect of over 500 shows over 17 days in our town. To further whet your whistle, here we go with another preview post to help you pick which shows you fancy checking out...

An inventive visual representation of something you can't see: Comedy in the Dark.

UNUSUAL EXPERIENCES - There are plenty of events taking place that take comedy beyond the traditional format of microphone, stage and performer, to delight the senses and amuse the brain with a very new experience. Comedy in the Dark does exactly what it says on the tin - a selection of short comedy sets performed in total darkness. The Red Light Comedy Show takes the brightness up a notch, being an evening of stand-up in the haunted basement of the Town Hall lit entirely by bicycle lights. If cookery shows are your thing, the most amusing one you're ever likely see takes place at Chutney Ivy restaurant in the form of the Comedy Curry Cook-off. Fans of history and heritage (very big at the moment with all this ***King Richard III business) can take a guided walk around Leicester's historical places of interest with a short performance at each venue. Another intriguing prospect is Hotel D'Comedie, in which guests wander the suites of Hotel Maiyango, encountering a different comedian/act in each room, making for an unusually intimate, bespoke series of mini-gigs.