FESTIVAL PREVIEW #1 - offbeat stand-ups

Right then, here we go... the festival brochure has been doing the rounds for quite a while now, and as the annual jamboree of mirth approaches, I am getting more and more people asking me which shows I would recommend going to see. Well, given that everyone's tastes are different when it comes to what makes them laugh, the simple answer to that is "depends what you're into, really".

Of course, if I just left it at that, it would constitute a massive cop-out on my part. So here for your delectation and rumination, I present the first of my festival preview posts, in which I take the intimidatingly vast hog-roast that is Dave's Leicester Comedy Festival and chop it up into easily-digestible bacon-bites for you (facon bites for veggies, obviously) I'll be looking at a different category of comedy in each post - today I present some of my favourite offbeat stand-ups.

Sunshine and laughter - bumper weekend of comedy coming up!

You lucky, lucky people.
As if the gorgeous weather wasn't reward enough for the foul extended winter we've all had to endure for so long, there's also a fine crop of comedy happening in the city this weekend to broaden your smiles and further flush your sun-kissed faces.

Shouty, sweating nutbox Nick Helm is headlining Just the Tonic on Friday and Saturday (if you haven't seen him yet I would strongly recommend doing so), supported by Romesh Ranganathan, Dan Evans and Tim Clark. Get your tickets here: http://www.justthetonic.com/leicester-comedy/

Pretty much the antithesis of Helm, Peep Show's very own sweet little songbird Isy Suttie brings her tour show Pearl and Dave to the Y Theatre on Friday night (see my previous post for an exclusive interview). It's a part-musical love story set in her home town of Matlock, and promises to be as touching as it is funny. Tickets etc reside here: http://www.leicesterymca.co.uk/y-theatre-whats-on-details.php?listing=1073

Also on Friday night at the Cookie Jar is Shaggers Comedy, which returns to the city after a sell-out show during the comedy festival. As the name suggests, it features a quartet of comedians telling hilarious real-life tales of a sexual nature. For more info and tickets, get thee here: http://www.thecookiejarleicester.co.uk/events/shaggers-comedy/

And if you're not all laughed out (or hungover & sunburnt enough) by Sunday evening, there's another dose of Should I Stay or Should I Go? at Kayal, the showcase for new comics presented by Spiky Mike, in which the audience decides who stays on and who goes home to cry themselves to sleep. Details etc be here: http://www.funhousecomedy.co.uk/html/fun_house_comedy_venues_leicester.htm

So there you have it. There is literally NO EXCUSE for not going to see at least one of these fine shows this weekend (and no I will not accept "I forgot coz I was drinking in the park from midday").

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: Helm and Alderton shine at the Y Theatre

Saturday 14th April 2012: Fresh from their triumph at being named Best Promoter at this year's Comedy Festival awards, Bottle Rocket Comedy presented their first line-up of the new season at the Y Theatre last night, and I think it's fair (albeit massively clichéd) to say it was a game of two halves.

To begin with, the audience were reasonably reluctant to get involved and compère Ed Gamble may have struggled if it weren't for Ann from Fleckney, who proved to be a constant goldmine of  'isn't she posh and bonkers?' laughs during the evening, although her willingness to talk at length to the compère did begin to grate with some audience members after a while.

First act Pat Cahill delivered some very inventive material from a brain that is clearly adept at sideways thinking, and some of his darker material, whilst not to everyone's taste, drew pockets of heavy laughter from certain areas of the room.

Next up was Roisin Conaty, whose 'chatty girl down the pub' persona and fairly standard observational material never really got the audience going. She seemed at times painfully aware of this on stage, making references to her sweating and occasional stuttering, and failing to engage the audience in any particularly successful banter. Nonetheless, some of her observations were very well received and she ended her set strongly with the 'porn tape' anecdote, leaving the stage to warm applause.

It seemed clear that the audience had come mainly to see the final two acts. First on after the interval was Nick Helm, who was as disturbingly brilliant as always. He simply doesn't let the crowd be placid, and forces them to take part by shouting very loud threats at them until they do his bidding. This proved to be a winning tactic, as his unique combination of bitterness, bad one-liners delivered with gusto, enforced singalongs and uncomfortably intimate audience interaction had the crowd regularly hooting uncontrollably.

And finally there was headliner Terry Alderton, who was.... erm.... um...
It's difficult to find words that can fully express the bizarre mixture of voices, sounds, facial expressions and movements that is Terry Alderton. His set was like a fever dream, flitting unpredictably and non-sequentially from wordless opera to reverse midget-walking, through talking shoes and Formula One noises, 'pilled-up' dancing and self-deflation. Baffling and edgy, Alderton is clearly a massive talent - a master of physical comedy, expressions and accents, and able to self-criticise and ad-lib during the set without losing the momentum of the show. Some will be put off by the sheer randomness of his act, but those who like to embrace the chaos will want to see him again and again.

The next Bottle Rocket event at The Y is on Saturday 28th April, headlined by Jarred Christmas - for details and tickets, go to this bit of the web: http://brcomedy.com/events/

Five Go Mad at The Y this Saturday

Still grinning smugly at their award for Best Promoter from this year's Comedy Festival, Bottle Rocket Comedy present their first awesome line-up of the year at the Y Theatre this Saturday.
Headlined by the fast-moving and unpredictable multi-award winner Terry Alderton, it's bound to be a cracking night with four other quality acts on the bill.
The first of these is Nick Helm, who epitomises the word 'unique' - let's just say I went to see him in February and he had me up on stage in a pink rain mac, ringing a little pink bell and tap-dancing on bubble wrap. Prepare to be shouted at...
Also appearing are Edinburgh award winner and burgeoning panel show star Roisin Conaty; Tom Rosenthal, who won Leicester Mercury Comedian of the Year in 2011 and has since appeared in Channel 4's Friday Night Dinner, and last but not least Ed Gamble - the 'straight man' of comic duo Peacock and Gamble (and by straight man I mean mildly less juvenile, but still wonderfully silly nonetheless).
Tickets are £13 and you can get yours at http://www.leicesterymca.co.uk/y-theatre-whats-on-details.php?listing=1070

Need cheering up? Try hitting the Bottle (Rocket)

Hahaaa do you see what I did there? It sounded like I was advocating alcoholism as a cure for depression!. Outraaaaageous. I should be on Mock the Week or something.

Ahem... Continuing my round up of excellent upcoming comedy in Leicester, I now turn my attention to Bottle Rocket, Leicester's longest-running comedy club. Based at a number of venues around the city and beyond, they've been putting on fantastic shows since 2005 featuring many big names, and it seems this year is no exception.

Their next show is on Saturday April 14th at the Y Theatre, and features the rock-solid line-up of Rufus Hound, Nick Helm, Tom Rosenthal, Pat Cahill and Ed Gamble.

Upcoming shows this year feature the likes of amiable kiwi Jarred Christmas, Peep Show's very own sweet little songbird Isy Suttie, the weird and wonderful Phil Nichol, Show Me the Funny series winner Pat Monahan and storyteller-par-excellence Rob Rouse.

As always, check the website for info, tickets & associated shizzle http://brcomedy.com/events/

And don't forget to drink lots of booze.