Where will you be on comedy's 'Super Tuesday'?

Comedy proves how similar it is to catching a bus next week, as three great gigs come along at the same time, forcing the city's laugh-addicts to pay their money and take their choice, hoping that they don't end up on the bus that's full of screaming babies or abusive drunkards, and breaks down half way to its destination. Tuesday 14th May is 'Super Tuesday' in Leicester, and your comedy choices are as follows:

No safety net: Tony Law

Handmade Festival - full of lovingly handcrafted comedy

With one May Bank Holiday weekend all done and dusted, it's fair to assume most of us are already looking forward to the next one at the end of the month. And unless you've been under a rock or in a coma recently, you'll probably be aware that Handmade Festival is taking place over the next Bank Holiday weekend. An evolution of White Noise festival which has seen a host of local bands playing at Firebug over the last few years, Handmade is a full-on arts festival, with music, film, performance, art and of course, comedy, taking place across the city.

REVIEW: Andrew Lawrence proves he is the Master of despair and futility

Life is pointless, people are awful, death is the only thing that will spare us from the continuing cycle of disappointment - these are the main points to take away from Andrew Lawrence's show 'Andrew Lawrence is Coming to Get You', performed at Just the Tonic last night. Sounds like a cheerful hour and a half, right? Of course, it wasn't just an hour of doom and gloom, and as far as I know nobody actually committed suicide after the show, primarily because it was so entertaining. Lawrence is a master of despair and misanthropic ranting who manages to fill the entire show with negativity, always seeing the absolute worst in every aspect of life, yet always managing to stay funny and never lose the room - instead bringing the laughter to a peak the more vitriolic his rants become.

All the ingredients are wrong with Lawrence - he's odd looking, with an unusual voice, lacking in confidence about his own ability and socially awkward. He uses all of this to his advantage, which is what makes his act a success. For example, many of the topics covered were pretty standard observational fare - relationships & marriage, children, religion, dinner parties - but he delights in finding the annoyance and futility in each, using his uniquely shrill voice to great effect during a series of extended and highly verbose rants, which are impressively delivered, often without even pausing for breath.

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/

COMEDY LISTINGS - MAY 2013

It's May! The sun is out and there's a distinct whiff of summer in the air, but for how long??? The answer - I DON'T CARE - this isn't a blog about the fricking weather, you know. It's about comedy and there's positively oodles of it coming up this month, as the new season really kicks into gear and we start to edge towards Edinburgh preview territory.

Andrew Lawrence is Coming to Get You. Yes, you.

So you've got your telly faves Andy Parsons, Micky Flanagan and Julian Clary at De Mont, but the ones I'm really looking forward to this month are Andrew Lawrence on the 5th and the awesome line-up for Set List on the 14th (both at JTT), as well as Scott Bennett and Anthony King at the Looking Glass, and another cracking line-up from Bottle Rocket on the 18th. Always worth seeing the circuit's only occultist metal transvestite comic Andrew O'Neill too. Don't forget Handmade Festival at the end of the month, which features some top comedians as well as lots of music, film and art across several venues.
Anyhoo, that's just my baboon-headed opinion - take a look at the full line-up for yourselves...