FESTIVAL DIARY DAY 17 - All good things must come to an end

Okay so the Festival finished a week ago, but regular readers of this blog will know that I have had something of a gigantic backlog of work to clear so I hope you'll forgive me for the lateness of this final diary post.
After such an incredible final Saturday of the festival, I awoke late and rather fuzzy-headed to reluctantly get some much-needed work done, before heading out for the final evening of the festival, which I was to spend downstairs at the Looking Glass, which had become something of a second home to me over the past two and a half weeks.

FESTIVAL PREVIEW #3: The Best of the Rest of the Fest (part 1)

OK, it's getting awfully close to the start of Dave's Leicester Comedy Festival 2013, and I had lots of preview posts planned, but time waits for no man and I have been very distracted by the twin evils of work and illness (awwww bless!)
So I've combined some of the best bits from the remaining categories of comedy, to give you a few more pointers in terms of shows to look out for at the festival, all neatly pigeon-holed for your convenience (and the performers' annoyance, I suspect!)

Nutter: Terry Alderton

REVIEW: Spikey et al launch the sh*t out of DLCF 2013

Wow - what an evening! Strap yourselves in folks...
A packed De Montfort Hall were treated to a strong and varied line-up last night for the official Dave's Leicester Comedy Festival 2013 preview show. There was a mixture of old and new, well-known and not so well-known, deadpan and lively, the everyday and the bizarre, so hopefully even the biggest comedy snob would have enjoyed some of the show. I, being a fellow of eclectic tastes, enjoyed pretty much all of it, but in very different ways.

Seconds out, it's Mainstream vs Alternative on Thursday night!

Two great, but very contrasting, shows come to Leicester on Thursday evening. In the mainstream corner, the tall guy from the Inbetweeners who looks like Rik Mayall was swallowed by a fairy-tale giant, and in the alternative corner, the self styled 'King of the Chavs' and his heavy-drinking manager. Seconds out - it's Greg Davies vs Devvo & Bob Slayer!

TV comedy mainstay and lofty Leicester resident Greg Davies brings his tour show 'The Back of My Mum's Head' to De Montfort Hall. You can expect more of the sort of well-told tales, recounting all kinds of eccentric behaviour and real-life slapstick, that made his last tour 'Firing Cheeseballs at a Dog' a huge success.
Chortle describes the show as "an uproarious night of anecdotes, told by a real pro, who rather than resting on his TV laurels is cementing his position of one of Britain’s finest storytelling comedians", and Thursday's show is close to selling out, so get your tickets here: http://www.demontforthall.co.uk/events/events.php/2012/881/greg-davies/

Meanwhile over at Just the Tonic, an altogether different evening awaits, as 'the internet's funniest chav' Devvo and pint-swilling alternative hero Bob Slayer take to the stage.
None of your mainstream, TV-friendly anecdotes here. Devvo is a working class wastrel and wannabe MC, the scarily-convincing comic creation of Salad Fingers writer David Firth. Forget Lee Nelson's heavily-scripted 'White Ali G' act, Devvo's online antics are so close to the mark it's difficult for viewers to tell whether or not this is a real person.
Also appearing is former rock'n'roll tour manager and cult favourite Bob Slayer, whose act often consists of downing many pints of lager onstage and just seeing what happens... a tactic which famously ended in him crowd-surfing in a wheelie bin and breaking his neck at this year's Download festival.
To join in the mayhem, get your tickets here: http://www.justthetonic.com/Leicester-Comedy/shows/thursday-8-nov-2012/903/