The nominees have been announced for Dave’s Leicester Comedy Festival's Awards 2015. They include Romesh Ranganathan, Andrew Ryan, Pippa Evans, Alex Edelman, Jim Smallman, Phil Jerrod, Mark Stephenson, Elliot Steel, Dan Nicholas and Colin Leggo. The awards, set up in 2006, recognise the contribution people make to the festival and include awards for Best New Show, Best Festival Debut, Best Venue, Best Promoter, Best Poster, Best Make Me Happy community project and Contribution to Dave’s Leicester Comedy Festival 2015.
Winners will be announced at a private ceremony taking place at The Mercure Grand Hotel, Leicester on Monday 16th March. The Legend of Comedy Award will also be presented at the ceremony, an award voted for by members of the public. Last year’s Legend of Comedy was presented to comedian Ken Dodd, who attended the ceremony to accept the award. He was recently profiled in a BBC Arena documentary.
Dave’s Leicester Comedy Festival 2015 took place from 4-22 February and featured over 640 events in 47 venues across Leicester and Leicestershire. The annual event has more than doubled in size since TV channel Dave became the title sponsor in 2012. Over 900 performers appeared and audiences flocked from across the UK to the event, the longest running comedy festival in Europe. The festival was extended to 19 days and highlights included an exclusive Q&A with Sarah Millican, an exhibition of materials from Sir Norman Wisdom’s archive and shows by Jimmy Carr, Milton Jones, Johnny Vegas and the UK Pun Championships.
This year the majority of the awards have been decided by a group of members of the public who applied to become members of the Awards Panel. Fifteen comedy fans, many of whom came from across the UK, were selected to see over 500 performances and visit venues across Leicester and Leicestershire in order to decide the winners. The judges will help present the awards at the ceremony, along with special guests and VIPs.
Dave’s Leicester Comedy Festival Director, Geoff Rowe, said: The Festival awards are a great way for us to acknowledge the performers, venues and other people who contribute so much to the annual festival. The ceremony has grown in importance in recent years and we’re looking forward to opening the gold envelopes and announcing the winners on the night.”
The full list of Leicester Comedy Festival nominees:
Best Venue (over 200 capacity):
Curve
De Montfort Hall
Just the Tonic
The Little Theatre
Best Venue (under 200 capacity):
Firebug
LCB Depot, Grays & Lightbox Studios
The Cookie
The Globe
Upstairs at The Western
Best New Show:
Andrew Ryan
Alex Edelman
Jim Smallman
Pippa Evans
Romesh Ranganathan
Best Festival Debut:
Colin Leggo
Dan Nicholas
Elliott Steel
Mark Stephenson
Phil Jerrod
Best Promoter:
Curve
Just the Tonic
Leicester Fridge
The Cookie
Contribution to Dave’s Leicester Comedy Festival 2015:
Leicester Fridge
Lightbox Studios, Grays & LCB Depot
Nick Wisdom & De Montfort Hall
Make Me Happy community project:
Applause Productions
Leicester City Libraries
The Contact Project
