As coverage of last year's event claims viewers in 127 countries

NextUp will be streaming 18 shows from this year’s Leicester Comedy Festival, the platform has announced.

Performances from Nish Kumar, Emmanuel Sonubi and Alison Spittle are among those being broadcast from the event which runs from February 8 to 26.

As well as solo shows, NextUp – dubbed ‘the Netflix of UK stand-up’ – will also be streaming special events including UK Pun Championships hosted by Jason Byrne, and the fundraiser Comedy Heaven, in aid cancer charity Prostaid, which will feature Kumar, Arthur Smith and Laura Lexx.

NextUp producer Amy Williams said: ‘This is our third year working with Leicester Comedy Festival and it’s only getting better – we started in lockdown, so it couldn’t really get worse!

‘There are some hilarious shows on NextUp’s line-up - I personally can’t wait to see Fesshole Live and John Hastings’s Edinburgh show, Do You Have Any Ointment My John Hastings, but we’ve tried to curate a programme with something for absolutely everyone, from puns and one-liners to raucous late-night shows.'

‘If you can’t make it to Leicester in person, NextUp will definitely be the next best thing.’

Last year, more than 9,000 viewers viewed NextUp streams from the comedy festival, with the platform claiming views in 127 of the world’s 192 countries.

Subscription to NextUp costs £30 a year, with an ‘early bird’ discount of 15 per cent until February 7. 

For the full streaming lineiup from Leicester,  visit nextupcomedy.com/lcf

Published: 23 Jan 2023