Why yes, I am going to use my first decent-length text post in ages to tell you what to do in relation to a series of events taking place in, for many of you, a completely different country!



So. It would appear that my hometown’s annual Comedy Festival is suddenly a huge deal! It’s being advertised as “England’s biggest comedy festival”, because clearly border-related technicalities that allow you to ignore cultural juggernauts like Edinburgh are the mark of true winners.

I’m being a dick, of course. Leicester Comedy Festival might have a big-name sponsor in Dave (the TV channel, not to be confused with tireless Ulsterman Dave McGuckin – this is an important distinction, as he will be spending the full month running a vast number of the festival’s Jokes On Us free shows and, relatedly, screaming into pillows) and it may be sticking further big names into big places like De Montfort Hall and the Curve, but it’s also offering up a cornucopia of genuinely great, independent, envelope-pushing art. I’m gonna be going to a bunch of it, though not as much as I’d like, due to the finite constraints of time and venue licenses creating myriad heart-rending clashes, so I’ve taken it upon myself to break down all the stuff I think will be good, interesting, worthwhile etc. so I at least give you the option of going to all of the great stuff I’ll be both seeing and missing. READ:

(all dates February 2016, apologies if the links don’t work but I can’t be arsed checking them all)







STUFF FEATURING PEOPLE THAT ARE KIND OF FAMOUS A BIT

Josie Long and Friends

Thursday 3rd/8:00/Firebug

Affable veteran of the alternative scene, likely continuing her captivating career-long meander between lefty frustration and borderline magic realist observations. No idea who her friends are but they’re probably cooler than yours or mine.





Eleanor Tiernan: Don’t Cry For Me

Sunday 7th/8:30/Hansom Hall

If this is who I think it is, she was charmingly bemusing on the Alternative Comedy Experience.





Simon Munnery: and Nothing But

Tuesday 9th/8:00/The Cookie



The British comedy scene’s premiere artistic innovator. “He’s more than a friend… in many ways, he’s an enemy.” – Stewart Lee





David O’Doherty: We Are All in the Gutter, but Some Of Us Are Looking at David O’Doherty

Thursday 11th/8:00/O2 Academy

Offbeat Irishman doing songs. Always deadpan and tremendous. First thing I bought tickets for.







Andy Zaltzman: Satirist for Hire

Thursday 11th/8:00/Firebug

Satire on demand. ON DEMAND. You can email things to him and he will do satire about them. Saw this in Edinburgh in 2014 and it was ace.





Adam Hess Time

Friday 12th/7:00/Bob’s BlundaBus & Saturday 13th/7:00/Criterion



I follow this guy on Twitter but have never seen any of his stand-up. He’s funny on Twitter, for what it’s worth.





Pete Firman

Sunday 14th/8:00/Firebug

Magician and comedian, equally fantastic at both, sublime when seamlessly blending the two. Also headlining some kind of showcase thing the night before IIRC.





Tony Law: Frillemorphesis

Tuesday 16th/9:30/The Cookie

A fresh onslaught of bafflement from the seasoned Canadian, who improves with age like a fine blue cheese with a funny name.







STUFF FEATURING LOCAL PEOPLE OR THEIR FRIENDS, SOME OF WHOM I KNOW

Lucy Thompson: LADY

Thursday 4th/7:00/Criterion

A confrontationally creative mind throwing out a genuinely interesting-sounding concept! It’s bloody free, as well.





Daniel Nicholas: Reverb (the Love Story of Terrance the Crocodile and Julia the Mannequin)

Thursday 4th/7:30/Attenborough Arts Centre

I am endorsing this show as a worthwhile artistic venture, but I take no responsibility for Daniel or his life/underwear choices.





Jason Neale’s Footprint

Thursday 4th & 11th/9:30/Criterion

Nice guy. Scared of snakes. Does a servicable Welsh accent. This will probably be slick and very good.





Bruce Edhouse: the Jon Pertwee Recipe Book and Me

Saturday 6th/3:30/The Cookie

At the time of writing, 5 days before this show, I can happily report that Bruce confirmed on social media yesterday that he has begun writing this show. Expect lots of vegetable-based filler, and I am not talking about the recipes. (In all seriousness this will be odd and wonderful, Bruce is a unique mind. We once bonded over some vomit with whole brussels sprouts in it that we saw separately and later discussed on Facebook)





Ian Hall: Ianertia

Saturday 6th/5:00/The Cookie

Hard rock name-based karaoke and reviews of Wigston, at a bare minimum. The Yoko Ono to Bruce Edhouse’s slightly less aggressive aspects of Yoko Ono.





Conversation Garden Does a Panel Show

Saturday 6th & 20th/10:30/Upstairs at the Western

Daniel Nicholas, Jack Britton and Lewys Holt, young men of varying reputation, doing something that will probably be better than most actual panel shows on the television. I think I know something that will be in this, and it’ll be great, if I’ve remembered it correctly.





The Comedy Inquisition

Tuesday 9th/9:30/Manhattan 34

Competitive improv featuring several people I have talked about elsewhere. This was loads of fun last year.





Small World of Sport

Wednesday 10th/8:00/Duffy’s

No idea what this is going to be like, but it features Les Hayden, who runs a really good open mic night I go to, and has a Subbuteo-themed poster, so thumbs up from me at face value.





Hall and Edhouse: The Two Syds 2

Thursday 11th/7:00/Criterion

Sequel to the similar loving roast of Ian and Bruce’s favourite double-acts, which was so good I saw it twice, getting pulled onstage both times.





Jack Britton’s Greatest Hits (Debut Album)

Thursday 11th/7:00/Attenborough Arts Centre

Sickeningly sweet little pixie-man singing funny songs.





Matt Hollins: Showcase to DC Productions

Thursday 11th/8:00/Criterion

Journeyman Hollins takes one last shot at the big-time, pitching his material to legendary agent Dave Cheddarton, who, as you may notice, looks very much like Matt Hollins. Fun game: decide for yourself whether he’s being creatively deadpan, arrogantly aloof, or genuinely, sincerely drunk.





Lewys Holt: Of, or At a Fairly Low Temperature

Thursday 11th/8:30/Attenborough Arts Centre

Comedic modern dance. Captivating and hilarious. Clothing not guaranteed.





Irish Dave’s Foreign Invaders

Tuesday 16th/8:30/Manhattan 34

The aforementioned Dave McGuckin curates and compares a selection of his favourite foreign-born acts on the UK circuit. Dave will be working himself into a fine paste for the duration of the festival, so please go to this and be nice to him. It’s Pay What You Like, so you can even afford to buy him one of M34′s pricey but generally pretty great pints.





Commentary

Thursday 18th/8:00/Phoenix

New installment of the genre-smashing mixed-media performance art night. I’m not in it this time, which means it’s probably packed with even more incredible stuff than the last one. Comedians, poets, dancers and god knows what else interacting with stuff on a full-on cinema screen. #WhatAreYouWatching? This, if you’ve any sense! See, I can stay on-brand if Dave threatens to Torture Rack me enough.





Matt Hollins: I’m a Comedian, Let Me Out of Here!

Sunday 21st/4:40/Kayal

Probably as good as his other show, at a weird time in a restaurant I’ve heard is very good but have never got round to actually visiting.







ComedyOpoly: Board Games With Comedians

Various/usually 5:00 I think/Bob’s BlundaBus

No idea who’s doing this but it sounds like a fun idea if you can bear social interaction with formal pretense, which I can occasionally manage.

