Monday, 8th February marks the UK’s seventh ever UK PunDay, an annual event in which pun fans around the country unite to share their best (and worst) puns on social media, using hashtag #UKPunDay.
#UKPunDay is Britain’s first and only national day celebrating puns, and was founded by Leicester Comedy Festival following the cult success of The UK Pun Championships.
The culmination of the day takes place at Leicester Comedy Festival with a rap-battle style pun-off staged in a boxing ring in which budding contestants from around the UK compete for the title of UK Pun Champion 2020. 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.
Adele Cliff took home the crown in 2020 and joined the list of past winners: Colin Leggo (2019), Robert Thomas (2018), Lovdev Barparga (2017), Masai Graham (2016) and Leo Kearse (2015).
Contestants for the 2021 UK Pun Championship:
- Pauline Eyre (@yespaulineeyre)
- Friz Frizzle (@FrizFrizzle)
- Iain MacDonald (@imacpun)
- Chris Norton Walker (@nortonwalker)
- Richard Pulsford (@RichardPulsford)
- Rob Thomas (@roblavs) - pictured - he was the 2018 winner.
- Richard Woof-lord(@rwoolfordcomedy)
- Jenan Younis (Jenan_Younis)
More details and ticket link here.
The Silver Stand Up Competition also announced its 2021 finalists. The competition has been running at the Leicester Comedy Festival for the past 9 years and is exclusively for comedians aged over 55. The competition is supported by established acts such as Alexei Sayle, Jasper Carrott and Arthur Smith. The 2021 final is in Leicester on February 4.
The 2021 shortlisted comedians are confirmed as:
- Geoff Alderman
- Alyn Ashby
- James Beaumont
- Brian Cowles
- Nik Hill
- Kevin Hudson @thekevinhudson
- Paul Jennings
- Lawrence Laidlow
- Paul Merryck
- Chris Phillips @TheChrisPhilips
- President Obonjo @realobonjo
- Professor John
- Sid
- Tel Turnbull
- Sha Wylie @shawylie
More details and ticket link here.
