BIG COMEDY WEEKEND - TICKETS ON SALE + EXTRA ACT ANNOUNCED!!

OK comedy fans, it's time to get really excited because the tickets for our Big Comedy Weekend in July are now on sale via WeGotTickets! That means that in just a few clicks you can get tickets for the ten fantastic one-hour shows we announced last month, for the ridiculously reasonable price of between £3 and £5 each (plus 30-50p booking fee).

SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT: The Big Comedy Weekend!

Leicester Comedy Scene and Lions Eat Ice Cream proudly present…

'THE BIG COMEDY WEEKEND'

Fri 11- Sun 13 July

at the Criterion Free House, Millstone Lane, Leicester.

As proud supporters of live comedy, Leicester Comedy Scene are absolutely thrilled to announce that they have teamed up with local hotbed of comedic talent Lions Eat Ice Cream, to bring you a whole weekend of fantastic shows by some of the finest local acts, along with some very special guests indeed.

We've spent many hours since the recent comedy festival contacting our favourite acts and putting together what we think is an awesome schedule of full one-hour shows, that showcase the best of Leicester and beyond. The flavour of the bill is distinctly alternative and packed with award nominees and winners from Dave's Leicester Comedy Festival (hereafter referred to as 'DLCF'), so it's bound to be a big draw for all you connoisseurs of fine comedy out there.

So, onto the line-up...

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.

FREE Comedy Lessons for West Leicester residents!

Your friends think you're funny, right? You think you're funny too. Go on, admit it.
Secretly you fancy giving stand-up comedy a go, don't you?
You'd love to be on the bill at next year's comedy festival, wouldn't you?

Well, if you live in the west of the city, this may be the opportunity you've been looking for! De Montfort University's Mile2 project is offering free stand-up comedy courses run by real live comedians, to residents living in the Woodgate, Newfoundpool and Fosse/Tudor Road areas of the city. Not only that, but the course will culminate in a special one-off live show as part of Dave's Leicester Comedy Festival 2013!

15 lucky residents will get regular coaching from experienced comic Alan Seaman - founder of Ship of Fools comedy club, ably assisted by Leanne Mckie - stand-up and co-founder of regular open mic night Lions Eat Ice Cream. The classses start this Thursday (15th November) at Newfoundpool Neighbourhood Centre, so if you fancy giving comedy a go, don't sit around thinking about it, just sign up now - you have nothing to lose, and it could be your first step on the way to comedy stardom!

To nurture your comic talent with some true experts in hilarity, call 0116 257 7171 or email mile2@dmu.ac.uk for more details, and you can find out more about the Mile2 project here: http://www.dmu.ac.uk/about-dmu/the-mile2-project/the-square-mile-project.aspx

Cheer up Englebert, Europe may not like you but Leicester still loves you...

(actual Englebert, pictured preparing for the show yesterday)

Rising like a Phoenix from the Eurovision ashes, everybody's favourite Leicester crooner Englebert Humperdinck will be appearing at the Crumblin' Cookie tomorrow and Friday... but he may look a little different in the flesh!

That's because 'Eng' is just one of the many characters played by Leanne McKie & Suzanne 'Sooz' Rowland in their Leicester-centric cavalcade of craziness entitled "What have you done with Denise's 30p?". Originally developed in Leanne & Sooz's living rooms (just off The Narb), the hour-long show was a big hit back in February, earning the pair a special mention at the Leicester Comedy Festival awards, and returns tomorrow for two nights only, for the benefit of all those who missed the original show.

Expect popstars, ghosts, fictional vigilantes, famous film stars, quizzes, badges, moustaches, wigs, cheese and bucketloads of general insanity from Leanne, Sooz and their comic collaborators Ian Hall, Barnaby J Thompson, Lindsey Warnes-Carroll and Neil Johnston.

Tickets are a jolly reasonable £5 and can be bought using pounds of electronic money from here (Thursday): http://www.wegottickets.com/event/169591 or from here for Friday's show: http://www.wegottickets.com/event/169811

Now, if you'll please release me I need to go to the toilet...

Forget 'Three Lions', these ones are much funnier...

Do you like football? No? Well fear not - there is an alternative to watching England repeatedly take the lead then lose it again. Lions Eat Ice Cream, the monthly open mic night at Hub on Braunstone Gate, returns tomorrow night for another mix of new acts and more established acts trying new things. Entry is free and whatever happens in the footy there's bound to be a celebratory atmosphere in the room, as this month they celebrate their first birthday - awwww....
Appearing on the bill are Billy McGuire, Leanne Mckie, Aaron Twitchen, Lu Lo, Claire May, Martin Bouse, Julie Jones and whoever else decides to shun the sport in favour of entertaining the non-football fans.

And there was me thinking Lyons Maid ice cream...

You've always wondered what lions eat when they're not ripping wildebeest to pieces for the sake of the television cameras, right? Of course you have.

Well here's your answer: 'Lions Eat Ice Cream', as well as being the answer to that niggling question that's haunted you for as long as you can remember, is also the name of a regular free stand-up night at Hub, the small but delightfully eclectic bar on Braunstone Gate. Taking place on the third Tuesday of every month (the next one being this very Tuesday, 17th April, hosted by the terribly manly Dr Ettrick-Hogg), this is an open-mike showcase for emerging local talents and more established names trying out new material. Recent shows have included the likes of Johnny Sorrow, Ian Crawford, Anthony King, Matt Hollins, Jane Hill, Rob Coleman, Masai Graham and Carl Jones. The whole thing is delivered lovingly to you by local stand-up Leanne McKie, co-star of the bonkers 'What have you done with Denise's 30p?' show at this year's comedy festival.


Tickets are available from nowhere, because this is a free open-mike night. I thought I made that clear. Now stop thinking about lions and concentrate... join the LEIC (nice acronym) Facebook group at
https://www.facebook.com/groups/144056692334050/
Go on then, off you pop!