I don't like to brag but I can control a kayak brilliantly. Canoe?
'Pardon' is the only French word that I know. I can only apologise.
Over 30 comedians have donated jokes which appear in a new book, edited by Geoff Rowe and Leicester Comedy Festival, due to be published later this year. “All Puns Blazing” is a brilliant tribute to that most British of jokes, the humble pun.
The jokes that appear in the book have been donated from comedians including many who have performed as part of the annual UK Pun Championships, which takes place each February at Leicester Comedy Festival. Comedians who have donated jokes include El Baldiniho, Lovdev Barpaga, Zahra Barri, Adele Cliff, Tony Cowards, Henry Dawe, Pauline Eyre, Friz Frizzle, Masai Graham, Sean Hegarty, Kevin Hudson, Leo Kearse, Colin Leggo, Nigel Lovell, Iain MacDonald, Kat Molinari, Laura Monmoth, Joseph Murphy, Graham Musk, Sean Patrick, Richard Pulsford, Paul Savage, Philip Simon, Rob Thomas, Andrew Tymms, Stevie Vegas, Chris Norton Walker, Darren Walsh, Richard Woolford and Jenan Younis.
The book is published in support of Leicester Comedy Festival and #UKPunDay which has become a phenomenon in recent years, receiving over 78 million impressions in 2019 and trending at no. 1 on Twitter on Pun Day 2020. It also ties in with the UK Pun Championships where comedians battle it out for the best puns to cheers (and groans) from the crowd. The book includes a foreword from Dr Oliver Double (British Stand-Up Comedy Archive, University of Kent).
On announcing the book, Geoff Rowe said ‘I’m absolutely thrilled to be able to bring together so many brilliant, groan inducing puns in one place, kindly donated by some of our comedian friends. This book will help support Leicester Comedy Festival so I’m really grateful to all the acts who have allowed us to use their jokes and help us continue to celebrate British comedy.’
Adele Cliff, UK Pun Champion 2020, and contributor to the book said ‘I was thrilled to be asked to donate some jokes to help support Leicester Comedy Festival. It’s a wonderful festival that really supports the UK comedy scene each February. I love puns, they're a joyful and silly escape from reality. Having so many pun champions and rising stars all together make this collection a pun of a kind.’
Claire Collins, Editor Penguin Random House, said ‘Geoff and the team at Leicester Comedy Festival have really made a huge success of the annual UK Pun Championships and #UKPunDay with thousands of people taking part in the annual celebration of puns and jokes. We are delighted to be publishing this book in support of the festival.’
Geoff Rowe is the Founding Director of Leicester Comedy Festival and the creator of the UK Pun Championships. Leicester Comedy Festival started in 1994 with 40 events programmed into 23 venues over the course of a week, setting the festival on its course to become one of the UK’s best loved and most popular comedy festivals. Since then it has continued to grow, featuring hundreds of comedy’s biggest names over the years and with the 2020 festival boasting 900 individual events in 90 venues over 19 days. 2022’s comedy festival will fall across #UKPunDay and will host the annual UK Pun Championships once again.
The Festival is produced by registered charity Big Difference which aims to engage people using comedy and humour. In addition to Leicester Comedy Festival, Big Difference also produce The UK Kids’ Comedy Festival and a series of community projects throughout the year.
The book is now available to pre-order from all good bookshops.
