Vittorio Angelone second and Shalaka Kurup third

Daniel Petrie has been named Leicester Mercury Comedian of the Year 2023.

He said: ‘I still can't quite believe it!  All of the other comedians were great tonight and I definitely didn’t expect to win. I failed my driving test on Tuesday so it's nice to get the week back on track.’

It comes after 23-year-old  Petrie – a finalist in last year’s So You Think You’re Funny – won the Edinburgh heat of the Chortle Student Comedy Award on Monday.

Second place at the final, held at The Y Theatre as part of Leicester Comedy Festival, went to Vittorio Angelone and Shalaka Kurup came third.

The competition, now celebrating its 30^th anniversary, has previously been won by the likes of Romesh Ranganathan, Josh Widdicombe, Rhod Gilbert, Jason Manford and Johnny Vegas. Last year’s winner was Bristol-based comedian Firuz Ozari.

Leicester Comedy Festival founder Geoff Rowe said: ‘We’re so proud of all the past winners and contestants, and it’s brilliant that the reputation of the competition has grown and grown over the years into now being one of the most prestigious comedy competitions in the UK.

‘Huge congratulations to Daniel Petrie on winning this year, and I’m sure they will go on to a brilliant future career in live comedy.’

The other finalists – who are all put forward by comedy clubs across the UK – were Freya McGhee, Josephine Lacey , Mary Flanigan, Rahul Somia Sergi Polo  and Shalaka Kurup .

The judging panel this year was Charlotte Lang from the Glastonbury Festival, independent comedy producer Alex Hardy, comedian Mark Olver, Mark Boosey from the British Comedy Guide and Sharlin Jahan from Brown Sauce Comedy Club.

Published: 26 Feb 2023