Organisers of the annual Leicester Comedy Festival are appealing to comedy fans and members of the public to pledge money to enable the festival to develop their support for new and emerging comedians.

Circuit Breakers is a new development programme which will benefit comedians who are just starting out and enable them to perform at the festival, which takes place in February 2018.  The programme, which is open to comedians from across the UK, will culminate with a performance showcase during the festival.  Members of the public who pledge money will receive a range of exclusive rewards, including discounts on festival tickets and invitations to private events. Full details are available by visiting www.comedy-festival.co.uk or http://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/circuit-breakers

One of the key aims of the festival has always been to provide a platform for new & emerging comedians. The festival has a great track record of doing this via projects such as Leicester Mercury Comedian of the Year, Silver Stand Up, The UK Pun Championships and the annual Awards Ceremony.  These projects have helped to launch the careers of comedians including Romesh Ranganathan, Johnny Vegas & Jason Manford and Circuit Breakers will help more comedians benefit from performing at the festival. 

Organisers hope to raise £10,000 from the campaign which will go towards paying for the comedians to come to the festival, and helping them with marketing materials and mentoring support.  Director of Leicester Comedy Festival, Geoff Rowe said “Leicester Comedy Festival is produced by registered charity Big Difference Company and like many festivals and cultural organisations we are having to identify new income streams to enable us to sustain what we do and stay true to our core mission.  Sponsors and funds are increasingly difficult for us to sustain but we want to continue our commitment to support new talent. 

I’m really proud that over the years the festival has become a really supportive place for comedians to learn and develop what they do and numerous acts have benefitted from this.  Recent feedback from our audience has shown that a significant number also value this part of the festival and we are responding to this by launching our Circuit Breakers programme. We hope comedy fans from across the UK will support the campaign and help us find the future big names in comedy.

Leicester Comedy Festival will run from 7-25th February and the full programme will be announced in November.  Tickets for The Gala Preview Show, which will take place at De Montfort Hall on Friday 12thJanuary, are now on sale via www.comedy-festival.co.uk.