The Leicester Comedy Festival has announced its line-up for the 2017 Festival.
Highlights include Jimmy Carr, Johnny Vegas, Ken Dodd, Richard Herring, Stewart Lee, Sue Perkins, James Acaster, Adam Buxton’s Bug: David Bowie Special, Sarah Millican and Standard Issue Magazine in Conversation, an exclusive interview with Romesh Ranganathan, Tom Lucy (Leicester Mercury Comedian of the Year winner 2016) and Richard Gadd and Scott Gibson (lastminute.com Edinburgh Comedy Awards 2016 winners).
The Festival runs from 8th – 26th February, featuring over 770 events across the 19 days. Reinventing the festival as the official comedy party of the UK, the party’s “mission statement” is simply to get the UK laughing again. And with a huge variety of unique events, performances and discussions, anyone can join the party in 2017.
Geoff Rowe, founder and Director of the festival said: “Following a truly depressing 2016 across the UK, we have made it our mission to lift spirits by launching the Official Comedy Party. Join our celebrations throughout February 2017 in Leicester, as we present another festival bursting with laughs; a comedy show for every taste, the return of #UKPunday and the UK Pun Championships, exclusive interviews with top comedians and a host of unique events to put a smile back on the face of all who join us.”
Further highlights include political comedy shows from Andy Zaltzman, Andrew Lawrence, Josie Long, Matt Forde, Ahir Shah, Alfie Brown, Fin Taylor, Leo Kearse, Joe Wells, Jonathan Pie, and a documentary about the lastminute.com Edinburgh Panel Prize 2016 winning event, ‘Iraq Out and Loud’.
Further shows will include Abandoman, Dane Baptiste, Darren Walsh, David O’Doherty, Funz and Games, Holly Walsh, Joe Lycett, Joel Dommett, John Richardson, John Shuttleworth, Kieran Hodgson, Lee Hurst, Lucy Porter, Mark Dolan, Mark Watson, Mitch Benn, Robin Ince, Seann Walsh, Seymour Mace, Simon Munnery, Shappi Khorsandi, Shazia Mirza, Susan Calman, Tom Allen, Tony Law and Viv Groskop.
Leicester Comedy Festival has a tradition of creating unique events and competitions, from the long running Leicester Mercury Comedian of the Year competition to the search for the best Silver Stand Up. 2017 sees the return of the UK Pun Championships, now in its fourth year, which takes the format of a ‘rap battle’ with competitors taking it in turns to pun about the topics picked at random on the night. Last year’s winner Masai Graham scored a double whammy in 2016, as he was also declared the winner of Dave’s Funniest Joke of the Edinburgh Fringe.
More Special Events:
A Funny City: a series of events charting the history of comedy in Leicester since 1979; an open discussion with Leicester’s heroes of comedy, a pop-up exhibition and devised comedy sketches from local young people. Funded by Heritage Lottery Fund.
Dead Monarchs: Centuries-dead kings and queens have sussed out modern technology and are tweeting from beyond the grave! The King Richard III Visitor Centre hosts an exhibition of the words of wisdom of our past kings and queens, as part of Leicester Comedy Festival.
Beyond A Joke seminars & lectures: Topics this year include disability and comedy, accessibility, religion and offence and the history of Leicester Comedy Festival.
For tickets and more information on the festival click here.
