The culmination of UK Punday took place last night at Leicester Comedy Festival, where comedian Jason Byrne hosted the sixth annual UK Pun Championships; a rap-battle style pun-off, in which budding contestants from around the UK compete for the title of UK Pun Champion 2019. And the winner of the 2019 UK PUN CHAMPIONSHIPS is Colin Leggo aka The Punderdog.
Colin (40) raised in the wilds of Cornwall is a stand-up comedian and Youtuber. Several of his YouTube videos have gone viral, including "Grand Theft Cornwall", a parody of the well known game and "Cornish Is", made popular by Scott Mills on Radio 1. The channel is home to his popular original series ‘The Car Pun Game’, where he invites well known comedians to drive around, making up puns from words heard on the radio. Guests have included Nick Helm, Pippa Evans and Bec Hill. Nominated: Best Debut Show (Leicester Comedy Festival 2015). Nominated: Best Comedian (What’s On Awards 2015). Colin was delighted to reach the finals of the UK Pun Championships in both 2017 and 2018
Examples of his winning puns:
‘I took my friend to the seaside but I ignored him all day and just sat by the rock pool talking to some coral. Keep your friends close and your anemones closer’
‘I got addicted to the cold weather. It started in December and snowballed from there’
‘When I was a child I got turned down for the school’s hurdle team. I couldn’t get over it’
‘I hear they’re now selling Pale Ales in tablet form. That’s a bitter pill to swallow’
‘I always fish at a nudist beach, it’s the best place to get your tackle out’
‘So when I heard my cinema was showing a documentary about Morris Dancing, I said “I’ll be there with bells on’
‘Apparently baker Paul Hollywood likes to punch ducks in the face for a laugh - it’s the Great British Beak Off!
‘My girlfriend dumped me because I dressed up as a massive cherub holding a bow and arrow. One cupid mistake’
Twitter: @colinleggo
Runner up is 38 year old Richard Woolford aka The Pundertaker. Richard is an event manager from North London. He was the finalist in the UK pun Championships in 2015 and 2016.
The live show follows the format of a rap battle and takes place in a boxing ring surrounded by the audience who sit in the round. Topics are picked randomly on the night and competitors then take it in turns to pun about that particular topic. Audiences vote for their favourite pun (by way of woops & cheers) and the winner goes through to the next round. After a full evening of pun based comedy, which is billed as a “celebration of Puns”, two finalists then fight it out until a winner is crowned. Topics in the final round were The Royal Family
Geoff Rowe, director of the Leicester Comedy Festival said “We had a brilliant night at the annual UK Pun Championships which was the culmination of another great UK Pun Day, promoted by Leicester Comedy Festival. People across the UK shared their favourite puns on Twitter and #UKPunDay was trending for most of the day. The sell-out show, hosted by Jason Byrne, was incredible and a real celebration of puns and wordplay.
The other 2019 contestants were:
Robert Thomas, London
Pun alert: Seaweed is really good for you. If you're ever in trouble, sea kelp.
Twitter: @roblavs
Stevie Vegas, Stirling (Scotland) & Northamptonshire
Pun alert: Can anyone remind me how to use WD-40? I'm a bit rusty.
Twitter:@SteveJuggler
Eleanor Colville
Pun alert: Roman Numerals going out of fashion? Not on my watch.
Twitter: @EleanorColville
Adele Cliff, London
Pun alert: How can you tell you’re eating a Brexit Christmas dinner? No Brussels, or Turkey and we no longer have a seat at the table.
Twitter: @Adelecliff
Joseph Murphy
Pun alert: Why is Moe Sizlack always saying he wants to kill the young Simpson boy? Because he’s a Bart-ender
Twitter:@Musicjoe11
Alf, North Devon
Pun alert: When I was young I was adopted by a man called Daz, so I grew up referring to him as my Non-biological Father.
Twitter:@whoelsebutalf
Now in its 26th year Leicester Comedy Festival 2019 runs 6-24 February. The festival is the longest running comedy festival in the UK, having taken place every February since 1994, and now regularly attracts over 130,000 people to venues across Leicester and Leicestershire. This year there is a brand new sister festival, the UK Kids’ Comedy Festival celebrating the comedy talent of the future. Headline acts for Leicester Comedy Festival 2019 include Jo Brand, Johnny Vegas, Zoe Lyons, Jason Manford, Nish Kumar, Dave Gorman, Russell Howard, Henning Wehn, Jason Byrne, Paul Sinha, Rich Hall, Shazia Mirza, Hal Cruttenden and Gary Delaney.
● The complete programme is available now www.comedy-festival.co.uk
● All ticket enquiries: 0116 456 6812
