Police Academy's Michael Winslow appearing tonight!

Man of a thousand noises Michael Winslow from the Police Academy movies is appearing at Just the Tonic tonight and tomorrow. Dunno about you, but as a child of the 80s, I find that rather exciting. It's not often you get to witness an actual Hollywood star making funny noises for your entertainment in a small room in Leicester.
Supporting are Rob Rouse, whose superlative storytelling ability is itself worth buying a ticket for, and Gareth Richards, who will entertain you with funny songs and reassure you that the world will not end this year. What a nice man.
Tickets are £14, as usual go to http://www.justthetonic.com/leicester-comedy/ to get one. I'm pretty sure this will be a gig to remember...

Reminder - FREE Comedy at Just the Tonic tonight!

I know you're all horrendously busy and will already have forgotten my post about the free nights on Wednesdays at Just the Tonic, so here I am to pester you further! It's Big Value Comedy Showcase auditions time, and if you book your tickets online you will get to watch a plethora of funny folk competing for a spot at the Edinburgh Festival tonight FOR FREE!
It costs £2.50 on the door, so to save yourself precisely that amount, get thyself to http://www.justthetonic.com/Leicester-comedy/shows/wednesday-21-mar-2012/681/
Your ticket also gets you into the nightclub for free afterwards, which is great if you don't have a job to get up for in the morning!

Andrew Lawrence... you know, the funny looking ginger guy with the squeaky voice

Those of you who have never heard of Andrew Lawrence, you're in for a treat! Seeing him for the first time is a real experience to remember, because I guarantee you've never seen or heard anything like him before. And once you've heard his extended rants, self-deprecation and too-much-information honesty, you'll definitely want to see him again*
He's widely acknowledged as a unique talent in stand-up and has been tipped for greatness for some time now. His last tour was called 'Too Ugly for TV', a reference to the fact that he hasn't had nearly enough mainstream exposure to match the glowing praise which is regularly heaped upon him. Obviously this gives him an extra level of bitterness to explore in his routines, and believe me he's at his best when he's being bitter!
Sticking with that theme, he's bringing his 'Best Kept Secret in Comedy' tour to Embrace Arts, Lancaster Road on Saturday 21st April, so I strongly suggest you get yourself a ticket and experience this unique performer for yourself by going to https://uk.patronbase.com/_EmbraceArts/Productions/W104/Performances
*Terms and conditions apply. Enjoyment of comedy down to personal taste - Leicester Comedy Scene is not responsible for ensuring you enjoy the gig, nor will we be held liable for any injury, swelling or death resulting from recommendations or opinions contained within this blog. May contain nuts.

Stewart Lee at DMH - Mercury review

Here's my official Leicester Mercury review of Stewart Lee's show at DeMontfort Hall last Thursday (the review appeared in yesterday's paper):
http://www.thisisleicestershire.co.uk/Lee-relishing-time-spotlight/story-15557963-detail/story.html

Spoiler Alert! Daniel Kitson previews Edinburgh show

Reasons I Love Leicester, Number 47: I've been able to see stand-ups of the quality of Stewart Lee and Daniel Kitson within a week of each other, both within a couple of miles of where I eat, sleep and poo... AND Doug Stanhope's coming up very soon... AND it's not even Comedy Festival season any more! This city is clearly a hotspot for quality comedy right now, and Mr Kitson obviously felt as many others do, that Leicester was a good place to test out his latest Edinburgh Festival show, which he did to a very appreciative Just the Tonic audience last night.
This was something of a mock exam for his new show, and Kitson clearly needed to be able to concentrate to get through the entire 2-hour show without an interval. He brought notes with him which he referred to infrequently, stammered more during sections of the show he was less comfortable with and did not tolerate distractions from the audience. Hence the bar was closed during the performance and latecomers were warned in advance that they would not be admitted.
If all of this sounds like the opposite of a good time, it was more than balanced out by the quality of the material, and by the fact that you were seeing one of stand-up's greatest talents up close, in your home town, for a fiver. It would have been £12 according to Kitson, but there was no trademark life-affirming story arc to this show - it was more like a series of amusing musings on the nature of life, love and beards, delivered with a contrasting mixture of eye-opening insght, self-deprecating honesty and occasional feigned arrogance.
The opening section addressed his drastic change of appearance - freshly shorn of hair and beard, he explained how he was becoming too easily categorisable by his appearance (glasses and a beard - you must own a micro-brewery!). He also railed against the current comedy boom (don't hold your breath for a DVD release any time soon) and celebrated acts of defiance and those who swim against the current in all walks of life.
As it went on, the show became more anecdotal, as Kitson shared with us stories of unrequited love and pig-decapitation amongst other things. The themes of the night were loosely tied together at the end of the show, but not in a terribly satisfactory way - one senses he'll be doing some work on the ending before taking the show to Edinburgh in August.
All in all though, it was a very enjoyable two hours spent in the company of a master of his craft. It's difficult not to admire his intelligence and invention, and it's difficult not to respect the way he stays true to his art and refuses to let himself become popular, mainstream or commodified. True, the show in its current form was was rough and unfinished, but I for one will be seeking out the finished article if I make it up to Edinburgh this year.

Daniel Kitson Edinburgh Preview show tonight (joy!)

I've been lucky enough to pick up a last-minute spare ticket (thanks James!) for the awesome Daniel Kitson, who is previewing his Edinburgh Festival show at Just the Tonic tonight. The tickets were very limited and sold out almost as soon as they were first advertised, so I'm double-chuffed because I've never seen him doing a full show before. Review will follow in the next day or two...

Are students funny? Find out on Tuesday night...

DeMontfort University's finest student comics go head-to-head this Tuesday night at Just the Tonic, in the final of the, ahem, snappily-titled 'So You Think You're Footlightingly Funny?!' contest. Judged by Dave's Leicester Comedy Festival supremo Geoff Rowe, funnyman Mark Olver and Andrew Leitch from Big Difference Company (the charity behind DLCF), 11 student funnypersons will battle it out for the title of DMU Footlights Comedian of the Year.
Entry is £5 on the door and bring some ID if you're lucky enough to look like you might be under 18!
Visit the Facebook event page for more details: https://www.facebook.com/events/289877327733197/

Magners Funhouse Comedy at Kayal

If you like Indian food, alcohol and comedy, Kayal restaurant on Granby Street is probably your idea of heaven. As well as serving yummy food and a selection of booze, Kayal host a monthly comedy show upstairs.
As part of Magners Funhouse Comedy Club, 'Should I Stay or Should I Go?' features new acts performing short slots, who are judged by audience members holding up green glowsticks if they want them to stay on and red ones if they've heard enough - basically a Gong Show for the rave generation.
Compered by the ever-reliable Spiky Mike, the show has an intimate, informal feel to it and plenty of audience participation. The comics are mostly quite new to the game, and it's particularly fascinating to see the occasional sweaty, shaky-handed first-timer, who reminds you that performing live comedy to a bunch of judgemental strangers is definitely not easy!
The next shows are on Sunday 15th April and Sunday 27th May, and cost a very reasonable £5.
Visit http://funhousecomedy.co.uk/index.htm for tickets/info etc.

2012 Comedy Festival Awards - The Winners

For those of you who missed it, the winners of the Dave's Leicester Comedy Festival Awards were announced last week, in a ceremony at the City Rooms on Hotel Street. Chosen by a panel of 11 judges who were forced at gunpoint to watch more than 400 shows a day (okay that's a lie), the winners are:

Best Show - Chris Stokes for 'An Opera Written On Napkins'

Best New Act - Matt Richardson 

Best Venue with over 200 capacity - The Little Theatre 

Best Small Venue - The Crumblin' Cookie

Best Promoter - Bottle Rocket Comedy 

Special Contribution Award - Curve

Make Me Happy Community Project - Guerilla Knitting

Lifetime Contribution Award - City Council

Jolly well done and pats on the back to all the winners, and while we're on the subject of winners I may as well mention Leicester Mercury Comedian of the Year winner Matt Rees, who won the coveted title and £1,000 back in February. Good on yer, sunshine!

Lovely Time - tonight at Firebug

If you're stuck for something to do tonight in Leicester, you could certainly do worse than getting your posterior over to Firebug and attending 'Lovely Time', a charity event in aid of The Alzheimer's Society. There will be live music from Grace Petrie, live magic and comedy from local mentalist Steven P. Travis, as well as performance art, burlesque dancing, cakes and other nice things to buy, all for the very reasonable door price of £3! Sounds like a bargain to me - I'll see you there :)

Visit organiser Rachael Smith's illustration blog for more details:
http://rachaelsmithillustration.blogspot.co.uk/2012/02/lovely-time-charity-event.html 

Need cheering up? Try hitting the Bottle (Rocket)

Hahaaa do you see what I did there? It sounded like I was advocating alcoholism as a cure for depression!. Outraaaaageous. I should be on Mock the Week or something.

Ahem... Continuing my round up of excellent upcoming comedy in Leicester, I now turn my attention to Bottle Rocket, Leicester's longest-running comedy club. Based at a number of venues around the city and beyond, they've been putting on fantastic shows since 2005 featuring many big names, and it seems this year is no exception.

Their next show is on Saturday April 14th at the Y Theatre, and features the rock-solid line-up of Rufus Hound, Nick Helm, Tom Rosenthal, Pat Cahill and Ed Gamble.

Upcoming shows this year feature the likes of amiable kiwi Jarred Christmas, Peep Show's very own sweet little songbird Isy Suttie, the weird and wonderful Phil Nichol, Show Me the Funny series winner Pat Monahan and storyteller-par-excellence Rob Rouse.

As always, check the website for info, tickets & associated shizzle http://brcomedy.com/events/

And don't forget to drink lots of booze.

Reach inside the Cookie Jar...

The Crumblin' Cookie (next to Dominoes toy store on the high street) used to be a great little place to eat lunch or grab a coffee, but now it's so, so much more... This humble little cafe has grown in scope and reputation immeasurably over the last couple of years, into a great place to have a drink in the evening and a cracking little music and comedy venue (winning Best New Venue at the 2010 Comedy Festival Awards and Best Overall Venue last year).
And it doesn't stop there - for there is seemingly no end to owner Antony 'Tinny' Hopkins' ambitions for this place. In late January, renovation work complete, he opened the Cookie Jar, the Crumblin' Cookie's basement venue, which hosted a plethora of paid shows during this years festival, whilst the free comedy took place upstairs. My recommendation - follow 'em on Twitter, like 'em on Facebook, and get along there to meet Tinny himself - literally one of the friendliest men I've ever met!
Shows coming up include Matthew Osborn + Matt Richardson + Carl Jones + Andrew Ryan MC on Thursday 29th March, and Andrew Maxwell on Thursday 26th April
Go here for tickets: https://www.facebook.com/thecookiejarleicester?sk=app_211526985586920
Go on, do it then...

Big shows this year at DeMontfort Hall

And straight away, as if to prove that I'm not working for JtT, here's a link to the upcoming comedy shows at DeMontfort Hall 
http://www.demontforthall.co.uk/events/index.php?cat_id=10&level=1

Big names include... deep breath... the legendary Paul Merton, the grumpy Rhod Gilbert, the noisy Michael Winslow (again!), the mighty Ken Dodd, the unflinching Frankie Boyle, the gargantuan Greg Davies, the Thunderbird-faced Jimmy Carr, the Irish-faced Jason Byrne, the surreal Ross Noble, the ubiquitous Kevin Bridges and the 'not-the-host-of-Crackerjack' Stewart Francis... gasp for air... but the one I'm looking forward to the most is Rhys Darby, aka hapless manager Murray from the sublime Flight of the Conchords.

FREE comedy shows at Just the Tonic

Forgot to mention - Just the Tonic are also doing FREE comedy nights (if you book online), in the form of auditions for their Big Value Comedy Shows. Comedy wanabees can come along to these shows and compete for a place in one of the Edinburgh Festival Big Value shows. Obviously not all the comics will be great, but it's free and you might get to see a star of the future!
The next one's Wednesday 21st March. To book your free seat, visit http://www.justthetonic.com/Leicester-comedy/shows/wednesday-21-mar-2012/681/

Note: By the way, I'm not in any way working for, or sponsored by, Just the Tonic. I'm just an excited comedy fan. I will be mentioning many other venues as the blog develops. That is all.

Just the Tonic - the name says it all, really.

Obviously no self-respecting Leicester comedy enthusiast could fail to be wetting their pants with excitement about the new Just the Tonic club that's opened on Granby Street. The venue, formerly Highlight and before that Jongleurs, has an absolutely cracking line-up including big names such as Milton Jones, Ardal O'Hanlon, Ed Byrne and 'that sound effects bloke from Police Academy' himself, Michael Winslow! Also appearing in the coming weeks and months are critics' favourites Daniel Kitson and Doug Stanhope, the wonderful Boy with Tape on his Face, and my own personal favourite, Dr. George Ryegold, to name but a few.
For full listings, get yourself onto http://www.justthetonic.com/leicester-comedy/ immediately and start salivating...

Stewart Lee is popular again, much to his annoyance. Richard Herring is also popular but less so, much to his annoyance.

It's been an absolute pleasure to have been able to watch both Richard Herring and Stewart Lee performing live in Leicester within a month of each other.
Their double act in the 1990s was edgy, cool and above all superlatively funny. Having recently watched some old episodes of Fist of Fun, I'm very pleased to say it's still just as funny almost 20 years on. I strongly recommend you visit  http://www.gofasterstripe.com/  and buy Series 1 of Fist of Fun, which has been finally released after Stew and Rich, along with Chris at Gofasterstripe bought the release rights from the BBC after they'd repeatedly refused to bring it out on DVD (utter madness, obviously).
Anyhoo, I reviewed Richard Herring's 'What is Love Anyway?' show at Curve for the Leicester Mercury on February 15th (aka St Skeletor's day) - here's the link http://www.thisisleicestershire.co.uk/St-Valentine-s-Day-gets-massacred-restored/story-15254959-detail/story.html and last night his erstwhile partner-in-crime put on a cracking show to a near-sold out and very appreciative DeMontfort Hall. I was reviewing that one for the Mercury too, I'll post the link as soon as it appears online.
I've tried not to gush too much in my newspaper review and stay fairly objective, but it was a fantastic show, and an absolute delight to see him performing in front of the sort of large, knowledgeable crowd he deserves, whilst still being able to mock said crowd continuously for not really 'getting' him, or just coming along because he'd won an award. I remember seeing him in the comedy tent at Glastonbury in the late 90s, when he was first starting to develop that slow, repetitive style that so characterises much of his recent work, and the festival crowd were really not going for it. He was getting booed by the majority of the audience, and yet the more they disliked it, the slower and more repetitive he became, as if feeding off their contempt. I guess this means he was ahead of his time, because now people regularly call him a genius for doing the same sort of material.
Having said that, last night's show did seem slightly more tailored for a larger, perhaps less knowledgeable audience. There were many references to his style, and lengthy, weary-voiced explanations of how his jokes work to an imagined section of the audience whose only experience of live comedy is watching Michael MacIntyre's Comedy Roadshow. Nothing new there, of course, but perhaps more surprising was his frequent use of fairly conventional observational gags and fairly snappy topical gags in the first half of the show. But of course being Stewart Lee, he didn't just leave it at that - any standard gags were generally used a springboard for more deconstructive material, either explaining at length why a poor gag didn't get a great laugh, or berating his audience for laughing louder at obvious, Mock the Week-style jokes than his more cerebral material.
Of course this is what makes him a great comic, this ability to deconstruct jokes, routines and the nature of comedy itself whilst still making the audience laugh. He has taken the old notion of a joke not being funny if you have to explain it and proved the exact opposite, and as a result I'm sure we'll see a whole raft of Lee-inspired 'deconstructionists' on our comedy stages in the years to come. I doubt if any of them will do it as well as he, though - after all, he's had 20 or so years practice...

Hello you and your comedy face.

Welcome to LeicesterComedyScene, a weblog (or 'blog' as the kids would call it as they're knifing you in the balls and uploading it to YouTube) all about the comedy scene in Leicester. The clue's in the title.
Obviously there's bugger all on here at the moment, but over the coming months I hope to be bothered enough to put up any news of upcoming live shows heading Leicester's way, and post my own reviews of shows I've managed to get off my arse and see. That way you can come here for all your local comedy news and not have to trawl around endless venue sites and search underpopulated generic listings sites.
Well that's the plan anyway. We'll see how it goes shall we?