Leicester Mercury Comedian of the Year

Leicester Mercury Comedian of the Year 2022

The prestigious annual competition is coming back at The Y Theatre on Saturday 19th February 2022.

The event is an annual sell-out as part of the festival and entry is via nomination by one of the selected comedy promoters.

There is no open entry process for this competition so please do not contact us about it.

Leicester Mercury Comedian of the Year 2021

WINNER – Nina Gilligan @highlandcow71

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Random facts about Leicester Mercury Comedian of the Year Competition

• Tickets for the first Leicester Mercury Comedian of the Year Competition cost just £2.50
• Steve Knuckles won the first competition back in 1995; he then disappeared without trace
• Reginald D Hunter was runner up to Mitch Benn in 1998
• Jimmy Carr performed a rap when he entered the competition in 2001
• John Bishop entered in 2001; the Leicester Mercury review said “we think we’ll be hearing more from him in the future.”
• Greg Davies was runner up in 2003
• Leicester based comedian Matt Hollins beat Russell Kane, to win the competition in 2004
• Shane Allen, big cheese of comedy at BBC, was on the judging panel in 2005 when he worked for Channel 4
• Jack Whitehall was runner up in 2008
• Luke Benson is the only comedian to have made it through to the final twice; once in 2008 & then again in 2011
• Over 6,500 people have watched the competition over the past 21 years; 200 comedians have taken part

Previous winners of the Competition include:

Stevie Knuckles (winner)
1996 Jo Enright (winner) Gary O’Donnell Colin the Fireman Marcus Cockrell Bob May
1997 Johnny Vegas (winner) Natalie Haynes Kevin Kopfstein Leslie Gibson		“When you’re up-and-coming, you need something to get your foot in the door and winning the Leicester Mercury Comedian of the Year – that was great.”
1998 Mitch Benn (winner) TJ Murphy Mark James Mary Bourke Pete Benett Johnny Kinch Reg Hunter Jack Mann Darrell Martin
1999 Patrick Kitterick (winner) Dominic Frisbee Meryl O’Rourke Kevin Clarke David Keay Michael Tombs Darrell Martin Mark Barrett Jack Mann Mark James Kat Nilsson
2000 Jason Manford (winner) Jason Whitehead Silky Sean O’Reilly Barry Glendenning Eddie Kaulkner
2001 Miles Jupp (winner) Jimmy Carr John Ryan
2002 Matt Blaize (winner) Bill Wooland Quincy Rob Mager Karen Bailey Nick Gray Kevin Dewsbury
2003 Rhod Gilbert (winner) Claire Pollard Greg Davies Simon Amstell Greg Cook Donna Spence Greg McHugh Marek Larwood
2004 Matt Hollins (winner) Russell Kane Matt and Faron Brandi Borr Anna Keirle Chris Roche Mel Barnes Matt Dyktynski
2005 Debra Jane Appleby (winner) Dave Longley Peter Aterman Lee Bannard Lee Brace Quentin Reynolds Sam Avery
2006 James Branch (winner) Emma Fryer		“The Leicester Mercury Comedian of the Year helps to raise the profile of comedians and get them noticed.”
2007 Carl Donnelly (winner) Sean Moran Matt Rudge Johnny Sorrow Jason Kavan Jim Smallman Paul Smith
2008 Henry Paker (winner) Jack Whitehall Andi Osho Gareth Richards Helen Keen Luke Benson Sam Harlan Tony Simpson
2009 Seann Walsh (winner) Fergus Craig Grainne Maquire Joe Bor Chris Stokes Carl Hutchinson Chris Ramsey Tom Adams
2010 Josh Widdicombe (winner) Ivo Graham Tom McDonnell Jake Mills Rob Beckett Dan Bland Ben Davids Ade Ikoli		“I was delighted, shocked and excited. It was such an honour to be on same list as so many incredible past winners.”
2011 Ben Target (joint winner) Tom Rosenthal (joint winner) Ben Target Inel Tomlinson Suzi Ruffell Luke Benson Henry Widdicombe Michael J Dolan Pete Walsh
2012 Matt Rees (Winner) Chris Turner Darren Connell Danny Sutcliffe Richard Hanrahan Joe Wells Liam Williams
2013 Romesh Ranganathan (Winner) Lucy Beaumount Adam Hess Jamie Demetriou Danny Ward Tez Ilyas Mark Simmons Kwame Asante		“The line-up was so strong I never thought I stood a chance of winning. Everyone on stage that night will go on to become brilliant comedians. Comedy has always been a passion of mine and when I won the competition my career really took off.”
2014 Kate Lucas (winner) Dane Baptiste Dave Green Elliot Green Harriet Kemsley Mark Silcox Phil Jerrod Daisy Earl
2015 Tom Little (winner) Stephanie Laing Kiri Pritchard-Mclean Ingrid Dahle Emma Kearney aka Penella Mellor David Jordan Jake Lambert Lolly Adepfope		“It’s such a big deal that the amazing finalists are voted for by the industry. I’m so pleased to be one of them.”
2016 Tom Lucy (winner) George Lewis Rob Mulholland Yuriko Kotani Ed Patrick Nigel Ng Twayna Mayne Travis Jay		“It’s amazing, unbelievable, it’s very flattering to be alongside such big names.”
2017 Alasdair Beckett-King (winner) Alex Mahoney Ed Night George Rigden Kelly Convey Sindhu Vee Tom Mayhew Tom Houghton		“Being nominated for Leicester Mercury Comedian of the Year was a great experience. It was a great show to perform in and such a lovely lineup to be part of. If I could share the title with the other nominees, I would. As long as I get to keep the money..”
2018 Jack Gleadow (winner) Simon Lomas Radu Isac Martin Wratten Helen Bauer Catherine Bohart Rosie Jones Patrick Spicer
2019 Daniel Sofoluke (winner) Kathryn Mather Jen Ives Riordan DJ Jeremy Flynn Simon Wozniak Jamie Hutchinson Krystal Evans
2020 Eric Rushton (winner) Matt Bragg Louise Young Dinesh Nathan Good Kids Omar Abid Mustafa Fecto