I hope you all had a jolly good festive break from the depressing reality of the world as it is, and made full use of the opportunity to stuff yourselves silly and drink yourselves into a merry stupor.
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| Seán Morley - in a basement near you tonight. |
There's lots of comedy heading your way in Leicester to combat the inevitable January blues, starting with Comedy & Cocktails tonight at Manhattan34, which will be hosted by new comperes Lucy Thompson & Thomas Rackham (of TOAD Radio fame), who have taken over from Dave McGuckin as he prepares to leave our shores for the proud nation of Canada. Tonight's eclectic line-up features the always-excellent Seán Morley (listen to his outstanding BBC New Comedian of the Year set here), plus Tom King, Chris Wells, Scott Liversidge, Lindsey Santoro, Anthony Pollard and Jade Richardson, so get out and enjoy that lot tonight from 8pm!
Also on this month are returning regular nights The Same Faces on Saturday 7th Jan and Club Smashing on Thursday 12th, who will be providing the city with its regular doses of improv and alternative comedy respectively. Both nights take place at The Criterion.
Then on Saturday 14th Jan, The Cookie plays host to one of the best nights in the comedy calendar - the annual Leicester Fridge Preview Show, in which all of the locally-based acts appearing at next month's comedy festival will perform short previews of their shows. It's always a packed house with a wonderfully varied mix of acts, and a great way to discover shows to see during the festival. This year's host is the reliably fantastic Chris Purchase, and you can get your tickets right here.
REVIEW - SLEEPING BEAUTY at the LITTLE THEATRE
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| "Oh no she isn't!" - Sleeping Beauty (Photo: Sally Evans) |
If you have kids that need entertaining, you could do much worse than to take them to see Sleeping Beauty at the Little Theatre, which continues its run until Sunday 8th Jan. I went to see it over the festive period and it's a slickly produced, well-acted mix of singing and dancing, slapstick, a spot of romance, corny cracker-style jokes and anachronistic tech references for the kids, plus lashings of innuendo for the adults, mostly provided by director and panto dame extraordinaire John Bale, who elevates almost every scene with his expertly-timed filth.
All the expected panto staples are here - expect water pistols, fairy-tale endings, a sinister villain to boo at, plenty of things appearing 'behind' people, plenty of fresh-faced Glee-style positivity, a young comedy double act to rival Ant & Dec in the future, and a quite astonishingly well-choreographed musical/slapstick number midway through the second half. It was the first panto I've seen since I was about 8 years old, and despite being a grumpy and overly cynical 38-year old now, I have to admit thoroughly enjoyed it! Get your tickets for Sleeping Beauty here
Right - that's all for now, but watch this space for the inevitable Leicester Comedy Festival preview post (or posts if I can find the time to do more than one!), and be sure to like and subscribe to our facebook page for comedy news updates.
Ta-ra for now,
Paul.
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