Comedy news: Preview: Leicester Comedy Festival's opening weekend

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Leicester’s 16th annual comedy festival kicks off this weekend, and as ever SSP is sending a team of writers up to see if we can uncover some comedy gold, but for anyone who hasn't ventured to the festival before what can you expect?

This year’s roster of mainline acts is fearsome: Julian Clary, Lee Mack, Phil Nichol, Rhod Gilbert, Susan Calman, Count Arthur Strong, Shappi Khorsandi, Jon Richardson, Tim Vine, Ian McMillan, Stewart Lee, Jack Whitehall, Jimmy Carr, Pam Ayres, Nina Conti, Jason Byrne, Pappy’s Fun Club, Andrew Lawrence, Sarah Millican, Paul Chowdry and Sean Lock. Not to mention the geniuses behind the burlesque comedy hit, La Clique, with a new show called “The Crack.”

But as if 300 stand-up shows in 40 venues across Leicestershire wasn’t enough, the 17-day festival programme also offers some more eclectic surprises—The Blind Tiger Meal, a secret dining club where diners are served dinner in a secret location and treated to a live comedy show; Charity Shop DJ—a lounge club where guest comedians play records exclusively found in charity shops and chosen by audience members, and the Ian McMillan Orchestra performing their songs and stories in Leicester Cathedral.

Ahead of my journey up north, I caught up with festival director Geoff Rowe, who started the event back in 1994 as part of a university project (he was studying for a degree in arts management at the time). At first it was a relatively modest nine-day affair, but it was destined for greater things.

The year before, NME had declared comedy the “new rock n’roll,” making history with its cover featuring Rob Newman and David Baddiel. It was around that time, also, that the first handful of stand-up comedians started playing big arenas: live comedy, in short, was taking off. And Leicester has been a staple of the burgeoning scene ever since.

In the 16 years that it has been running it has hosted stars like Roseanne Barr (doing her first ever gig outside the US), Sandra Bernhard, Jo Brand, Jack Dee, Dave Gorman, Rory Bremner, Bill Bailey, Ross Noble, Johnny Vegas, Harry Hill and Alan Carr.

But the festival does not rest on its laurels. It’s true that in its early years, Leicester used to pick up the best shows from Edinburgh, whereas now, Geoff claims, it’s the reverse. But this has allowed it to become a showcase for agents, bookers, performers and comedy fans alike. “For us, nurturing new talent is very important, and it’s great to be able to do so,” says Rowe.

The proof is in the roster of previous Leicester award-winners: including Jason Manford, Rhod Gilbert, Henry Paker and Johnny Vegas.

So what is the secret of Leicester’s popularity? And indeed, increasingly, of live comedy in Britain in general? “It used to be that if someone hadn’t been on the telly, audiences weren’t interested—but this has totally changed in recent years,” says Rowe.

Comedy has become a much more mainstream form of entertainment partly because it’s low-cost, low-tech fun—and, crucially, audiences are more willing to take a punt on unknowns than ever before.

As comedian Brendon Burns (who will be at Leicester on 8th and 9th Feb) put it to me, “there are no hard and fast rules for comedy anymore—nor should there be.”

For more information and to book tickets visit www.comedy-festival.co.uk