Monday 31 December 2012

And now, live from Leicester, It's the LCS Review of the Year!

Well, what a year 2012 has been. We've had Jubilee celebrations, the Olympics and Paralympics, apocalyptic predictions, tabloid scandals, blah blah blah blah.... To be honest I didn't really pay attention to any of that, because I was too busy looking at people on a stage trying to be funny, or researching which people are coming to the city to be funny at us.

In comedy terms it's been a great year too. 2012 saw the fist Dave-sponsored Leicester Comedy Festival, which was bigger and better than ever (although I'd love to know why more of it didn't appear on the Dave channel itself - maybe next year eh?). It also saw the opening of Just the Tonic, which has provided more comedy shows than any other venue by a country mile this year. Several new local nights have sprung up, proving the scene here to be in a very healthy state indeed, and of course this year saw the birth of a little blog called Leicester Comedy Scene, which tries its very best to bring all those wonderful events together in one place for you to peruse at your leisure, you lucky swines!

So I thought since it's the last day of the year I'd share with you a couple of LCS's highlights of the year (which of course, for this blog began in March - sorry DLCF 2012!)


My show of the year is the one that spurred me on to start up the blog in the first place, and that was Stewart Lee's 'Carpet Remnant World' at De Montfort Hall. I've been a massive fan of Lee ever since his Fist of Fun days, and it was very satisfying to see him back at the top of his game in front of a large, appreciative crowd doing what he does best (insulting them with a wry look on his face). Not bad for a man who quit stand-up in 2001 because he couldn't find an audience. Lee's resurgence is a masterclass for any budding comic in eschewing the mainstream route to success, instead cultivating a loyal audience who really suit his material. I thoroughly recommend reading his book 'How I Escaped My Certain Fate' to find out exactly how he did this. Anyway, it was during the interval of this show back in March that, egged on by my friends Chris, Kate, Kieran and Sharon, I decided I was going to do this blog thingy, and hey presto - here it is!


Of course there have been many memorable shows which I've been lucky enough to see this year which are worth a mention. Just the Tonic have put on some great tour shows by the likes of Daniel Kitson, Doug Stanhope, Paul Foot and Josie Long, and featured many great circuit acts as part of their weekend shows - Ivan Brackenbury/Ian D Montfort, Gary Delaney, Barbara Nice, Reg D Hunter and Rob Deering stick out as some of the best I've seen this year. DLCF 2012 'best promoter' winners Bottle Rocket Comedy Club have put on some great line-ups throughout the year too - my faves have been Pat Cahill/Roisin Conaty/Nick Helm/Terry Alderton and Chris Stokes/Jarred Christmas/Vikki Stone back in April. Other stand-out shows include Isy Suttie at The Y, Rhys Darby at De Montfort Hall, Liam Mullone's Edinburgh warm-up gig at the Guildhall on a Sunday afternoon and Pat Monahan headlining Ship of Fools at the Looking Glass in September. And of course I can't forget the parade of insanity that was "What have you done with Denise's 30p?" at the Cookie Jar last summer.


There have been many personal highlights of the year to choose from as well. Firstly, interviewing the lovely Isy Suttie from Peep Show, who was as warm and sweet as you hope she is in real life. It was great to see Reg D Hunter opening at a packed-out JTT and all the punters staying til the end of the show to see folks they'd never heard of - I felt very proud indeed. Another highlight was meeting local double act and organisers of the regular 'Lions Eat Ice Cream' night Leanne Mckie and Suzanne Rowland. We first met back in April for an 'interview' which turned into a late-night pub quiz session with many silly prizes involved - I've never been quite the same since. Being approached to run my first free ticket offer by Just the Tonic was really exciting too, and led to dozens of punters getting to see a barnstorming set from Barbara Nice absolutely free of charge. More recently, seeing the first LCS article in the Mercury's Culture magazine and my advert in next year's comedy festival brochure gave me a warm and fuzzy feeling. Mmmmm....


"But what," I hear you snoring, "is your number one moment of the year, Mister Comedy Scene?" Well, for me it has to be the onstage fallout between comperes Ian Hall and Barnaby J Thompson at Lions Eat Ice Cream in October, which led to Ian walking off stage and out of the building, leaving Barnaby in the middle of literally ripping his suit off and throwing bits of it around the room. Of course, this turned out to be a very well executed hoax by the pair, but what made it so convincing was Ian's acting, becoming increasingly irritated by Barnaby's wonderfully erratic and intrusive antics onstage, then keeping up the pretence offstage during the intervals by appearing more and more frustrated and on-edge. Well done to the pair of them - it was a brilliant and memorable stunt, perfectly executed.

Right, that's me done for the year - I've got to have me dinner then get me glad-rags on and head out to the New Year Extravaganza at Just The Tonic, starring Ivan Brackenbury, Adam Bloom, Phil Nicol and Wes Zaharuk. I'll be back very soon with some January listings, but thanks again to all the performers, venues and fans that have made it an absolute cracker of a year in the Leicester comedy scene.

- Paul.

Saturday 22 December 2012

Two special shows left this year at JTT

Nobody's at work, everybody's either drunk and already sick of mince pies, or grinding their teeth and elbowing fellow last-minute shoppers in TK Maxx - it's an unmistakably British Christmas!
For those of you who make it through to this evening without being locked up for drunkenness or shopping rage, Just the Tonic have one more Christmas show tonight, featuring Phil Nicol, Philberto, Sam Avery and Tim Clark.


Obviously there's nothing to laugh at over Christmas itself, as we all silently and solemnly contemplate the birth of Jesus for three days. Fact.
But there is one more comedy show to be squeezed in before 2013 slaps us sharply upside the head, and that's the Just the Tonic New Year's Eve extravaganza starring the multi-talented Phil Nicol, anarchic physical comedian Wes Zaharuk, compere/owner/keeper of the booze Darrell Martin and headliner Ivan Brackenbury - the most inappropriate hospital radio DJ you've ever heard, and one of the funniest acts I've seen all year. His set is an absolute barrage of delightfully wrong gags and I can't think of a better way of seeing in the new year.

Right, that's me finished for 2012 - a massive 'thank you' to everybody who has visited and subscribed, liked, shared and retweeted my posts, and an equally massive 'thank you' to all the performers, promoters, venue owners and staff that have put so much effort into keeping us muggles entertained all year - we are quite literally not worthy. See you in January folks!

Funny Women required at the Red Tent!


Calling all funny ladies! Laughing Cows, which recently started bringing all-female line-ups to the city's comedy scene, are looking for talented up-and-coming female stand-ups to do a five minute spot alongside more established acts at the Red Tent, Pocklington's Walk on January 8th.

The evening will be known as Laughing Calves and aims to give newer acts some exposure and the opportunity to share the bill with the likes of Barbara Nice, Shazia Mirza and Zoe Lyons. If you're interested, email Maureen Younger contact.maureen@yahoo.co.uk to book your spot.

If, like me, you're neither funny nor a woman, don't worry - you can still be in the audience... hurray! More info can be found right here: http://www.laughingcowscomedy.co.uk/comedy/gigs.html

Monday 10 December 2012

Get your fix of funny femmes at the Red Tent tomorrow

Righty then - "what have we got coming up comedy-wise this week?", I hear you all asking (when will these voices in my head stop???). 


Well, if you're a fan of women as well as stand-up comedy, you're in for a real treat tomorrow, because it's another all-female line-up from Laughing Cows at The Red Tent on Pocklington's Walk. Laughing Cows was set up in 1998 to showcase the finest funny ladies in the country and has been running shows across the country that redress the hormonal imbalance in what is still a heavily male-dominated profession.
Performing tomorrow are Jen Brister, described by Chortle as "a confident and forthright performer" and by Time Out as "Gorgeously Talented", as well as "the self-styled thinking pensioner’s crumpet" VG Lee and regular Laughing Cows MC Maureen Younger.
Tickets are £8 and are available from http://www.wegottickets.com/event/195176. More information about Laughing Cows can be found at http://www.laughingcowscomedy.co.uk/

Also on this week is the next installment of Nibbles with Giggles on Wednesday at Entropy on Hinckley Road. £12 gets you a delicious gourmet pie, dessert and a fabulous line-up of talented local comics and even a bit of live music. And as if you needed any more encouragement, a healthy dollop of proceeds from the night goes to charity too! More details here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/489042107780734/?fref=ts

UFI host another night of improvised comedy on Friday as part of their World Tour of Leicester, this time bringing their quick wits to Curve. Find out more at the end of this link: https://www.facebook.com/events/465226590184584/

And of course, don't forget Just the Tonic are hosting regular Christmas shows featuring some of the best comics on the national circuit. They're starting to sell out though, so now's the time to leap into action and find out if there's any tickets left at http://www.justthetonic.com/leicester-comedy/

That should do you 'til the end of the week, right?