The nominees for the 2026 Leicester Comedy Festival Awards have been announced, celebrating the incredible talent showcased during the Leicester Comedy Festival and the UK Kids’ Comedy Festival. This year 23,869 tickets were sold directly from the festival’s box office to 756 shows county wide.
This year’s awards nominees span both the Leicester Comedy Festival and The UK Kids’ Comedy Festival, showcasing an incredible array of talent. A full list of nominees is included below.
Michael Harris-Wakelam, CEO of Big Difference, said: “2026 has marked another exceptional year for Leicester Comedy Festival, with the quality and diversity of the shows clearly reflected in this outstanding list of nominees. Our incredible community has once again come together bring the festival to life with weeks of laughter across Leicestershire. The funds raised for the charity are reinvested into a wide range of fantastic initiatives, workshops, and outreach projects on the community.”
Leicester Comedy Festival 2026 featured 1,089 performances across 756 shows, including 128 sell-out shows.
The winners of major competitions include:
- The UK Pun Championships: Adam Ernest Pickard
- Howes Percival Leicester Comedian of the Year 2026: Chloe Reynolds
Charlotte Laidet, Festivals & Programme Director, commented: “We’re immensely proud of this year’s festival, which once again celebrated the very best of comedy in all its forms. Leicester has been buzzing with talent from across the country — from rising stars to well-known favourites. It’s been fantastic to see audiences embracing the spirit of the festival, enjoying more comedy in more venues than ever before, with such a wide and varied choice of shows on offer. We genuinely believe there’s something for everyone at the festival. A heartfelt thank you to our venues, promoters, staff, performers, volunteers and partners, whose dedication makes it all possible.”
Meanwhile, the UK Kids’ Comedy Festival 2026 featured 70 events, with performances from stars like Marcel Lucont, SHELF, Olaf Falafel, Jody Kamali and Mama G.
The festival also worked alongside local schools, with students performing comedy for the first time as part of the Loving Laughing initiative, and young participants spending their half term boosting their confidence and performance skills at Laugh Academy workshops.
Rachael Dobbie, Producer of The UK Kids’ Comedy Festival, said: “We’re delighted to showcase the very best in children’s and family comedy each year. Thousands of families join us to create memories together and enjoy the magic of live comedy. Through our community initiatives, we’ve given hundreds of children and young people their first taste of performing comedy. This festival wouldn’t be possible without the amazing support of our performers, venues, promoters, volunteers, partners, and audiences — we’re truly grateful to everyone involved. We can’t wait to see what next year has in store!”
The full list of awards nominations are below:
- Best Kids Show
- Jude Simpson: A Noise Annoys
- SHELF: The Kids Show 2 – The Power of 2
- Spencer Jones Kids Show
- Story Time with Mama G
- The Rubbish Shakespeare Company: Romeo & Juliet
- Best Variety Show
- Bad Clowns: Long Live The King!
- Giddy Aunt Improv
- Lady Bolognese: CLASS WAR
- Peter Fleming’s Dismally I11-Prepared TV Pub Quiz
- Playing God with Benjamin Alborough (WIP)
- Plastic Jeezus: Second Debut Show (WIP)
- Sam Eley is Basil Crumbwick: Soul Sewage
- Best New Show
- Alexandra Haddow: Work In Progress
- Andrew White: What a Life (WIP)
- Caitriona Dowden: Sesh Head (WIP)
- Luke Rollason: The Poolboy (WIP)
- Max Fulham: Work in Progress
- Russell Hicks: A Work That is Forever in Progress (an actual work in progress)
- Toussaint Douglass: Purple Drizzle
- Best Debut Show
- Celine Kuklowsky: Bed Boy (WIP)
- James Ellis: Craig (Work in Progress)
- Jessica Barton: Dirty Work
- Michelle Ahern: Are We There Yet? (WIP)
- Saaniya Abbas: Hellarious
- Richard Dadd: Not The Guy From Baby Reindeer
- Best Show
- Aidan Jones: Chopin’s Nocturne
- Alex Kealy: Work-in-Progress
- Brennan Reece: Live
- Jacob Hawley: Work In Progress
- Joz Norris Is Hugh Jackman Is The Phantom of the Opera
- Ruby Carr: Bite Me
- Best Poster
- Katie Pritchard is: Sir Elton Scone (designed by Katie Pritchard)
- Richard Todd: Pencil Case (designed by Richard Todd)
- Lucy Pearman: Lunartic (designed by Will Andrews)
- Olaf Falafel: I Used To Work in A Helium Balloon Factory Until They Let Me Go (designed by Olaf Falafel)
- Rob Kemp: Pivot (designed by Paul Banks)
- Best Promoter
- TripleCeePee
- Jokes On Us
- LaughterCraft
- Just The Tonic
- Monster Comedy
- Den of Laughs
- Foxy Comedy
- Best Small Venue
- The Big Difference
- Firebug
- Duffy’s
- The Black Horse
- Kayal
- Best Large Venue
- De Montfort Hall
- Curve Theatre
- Wycliffe Rooms
- The Y Theatre
- Leicester Cathedral
- Best New Venue
- Soft Touch Arts
- Hive & Honey
- The Kneaded Pint
- Everards Beer Hall
- Leicester Indoor Bowls Club
- Liberty Award for Spirit of the Festival
- Wrestling with the Champ
- The Festival Hub
- DMU Special Collection
- Real Ale Classroom
- Firebug
- Liebenspiel
- Tracey Miller Community Award
- North Mead Primary Academy
- Leicester Libraries
- Menphys
- Soft Touch Arts
- Student of the Year
- Roxana-Mihaela Blaj
- Molly Oliver
- Emma Tung
- Amber Sutherland
- Alex Milton
- Business Contribution
- Kangaroo
- Howes Percival
- Everards
- Steep Soda
- Teesh
- The Grand Hotel
- Contribution to Leicester Comedy Festival 2026
- Highcross Shopping Centre
- Cultural Quarter Earlies
- Visit Blaby
- TripleCeePee
Picture of Shelf by Roxanna Blaj
