Postponed gig set for next month

The finalists have been announced in this year’s  Leicester Mercury Comedian of the Year Competition.

Arielle Souma, Christian Jegard, Dan Tiernan, Hassan Dervish, Jessie Nixon, Joseph Emslie, Liz Guterbock and Nina Gilligan  will be taking part in the final on June 5.

It has been held as part of the Leicester Comedy Festival  each February since 1995, but this year’s event was pushed back because of the Covid lockdown.

Previous winners have included Johnny Vegas, Jason Manford, Miles Jupp and Romesh Ranganthan.

The competition is unusual in that comedians are not able to directly apply to take part, but instead must be nominated by promoters from across the UK.

Geoff Rowe, founding director of Leicester Comedy Festival, said: ‘The competition is always one of the key highlights of Leicester Comedy Festival and we were gutted when it became clear we couldn’t produce it back in February. 

‘We wanted to make sure we continued the event, so we didn’t miss a year.  It feels great to be back, confirming line ups and producing a live show after all this time.’

The socially distanced gig at the  Y Theatre, will be hosted by Eshaan Akbar, pictured.

The nominating promoters this year are Jessica Toomey from the Frog & Bucket in Manchester, Toby Foster from Sheffield’s Last Laugh Comedy, Jill Edwards, who runs comedy workshops in Brighton, Barry Ferns from Angel Comedy and  Ed Strong from Bristol-based Chuckle Busters.

Published: 20 May 2021