This evening Leicester Comedy Festival, the longest running comedy festival in Europe, presented Johnny Vegas with the Legend of Comedy Award at their annual ceremony to honour comedians and others involved in the festival.
Johnny Vegas has a long connection with the festival having been crowned Leicester Mercury Comedian of the Year in 1997. The ceremony, sponsored by De Montfort University and DMU for Life and held online due to Coronavirus, was hosted by comedian Mark Olver and featured video messages from all the winners. The ceremony can still be viewed on the Leicester Comedy Festival Facebook page.
Johnny Vegas joins previous recipients of the Legend of Comedy Award including Victoria Wood, Barry Cryer, Rik Mayall, Jo Brand, Nicholas Parsons, Ken Dodd and Sir Norman Wisdom. Other winners at the ceremony this year included Alex Hylton, Sian Davies, Friz Frizzle, Chris Betts, Doorstep Comedy Club, Jack Gleadow and Furthest From The Sea.
The awards, set up in 2006, recognise the contribution people make to the February festival and include awards for Best Show, Best Debut Show, Best Venue, Best Promoter, Best Kids Show, Best Impro Show, Best Musical Show, Best Community Project and Lifetime Contribution to Leicester Comedy Festival.
Festival director, Geoff Rowe said “of course, we had planned to have a live awards ceremony and invite comedians, promoters and venues to attend but that has not been possible this year for obvious reasons. We wanted to make sure we could do an event to say thank you to all those who support the festival and continue to make the event the biggest event of its kind in Europe.
It was particularly fantastic to be able to recognise Johnny Vegas and present him with the Legend of Comedy Award. Johnny has been a long-time friend of the festival, since he won the Leicester Mercury Comedian of the Year Competition at the festival in 1997. Huge congratulations to him and all the other nominees and winners. We’ll see you all again when Leicester Comedy Festival returns in February 2021!”
On winning his award, Johnny Vegas said “thank you Leicester Comedy Festival for this Legend of Comedy award. It’s a nice way of people saying you are ready to retire but still I’m really humbled. Outside of St Helens no one would know who Johnny Vegas was if it wasn’t for you, giving me that big break all those years ago. I’m chuffed to bits; it’s a shame we can’t all be there and raise a glass and make things messy. But you’ve made me a very happy man. Cheers!”
Full List Of Leicester Comedy Festival Award Winners
Best Show Alex Hylton: Get Rich or Die Cryin’
Best Debut Show Sian Davies: About Time
Best Musical Show Friz Frizzle: Heaven Knows I'm Friz Frizzle Now
Best Impro Show Chris Betts vs The Audience
Best Kids Show The Extraordinary Time-Travelling Adventures of Baron Munchausen
Best Venue (under 200 capacity) Black Horse Laughter Loft
Best Venue (over 200 capacity) De Montfort Hall
Best New Venue Pied Bull
Liberty Award/Spirit of the Festival Doorstep Comedy Club
Best Promoter Furthest From The Sea
Community Award The Samaritans and LAMP
Contribution to LCF20 Barry Bulsara for Lesta Ha! Poster
Business of the year Eileen Richards Recruitment
Greening The Laughs Award in conjunction with ReFiesta Grays @ LCB Depot
Student of the Year sponsored by De Montfort University. Liberty Emmerson
Leicestershire Favourite Joke sponsored by Everards Brewery Jack Gleadow
Lifetime Contribution Mark Olver, who tweeted: "Thank you for the award Leicester. I said it in the speech, but just to repeat it...I got this award for regularly hosting the end of festival charity gig and wanted to bring peoples attention to just how often comics do gigs raising money!! And we will continue to!!"
Legend of Comedy Johnny Vegas
Leicester Comedy Festival 2020 included over 890 individual events in 95 venues across the city, over the festival’s 19 days. The festival produces a series of unique events each February, many of which have gone on to become cult hits, and in the case of The UK Pun Championships, even developing its own national day, #UKPunday, which trended throughout Monday 10th February, generating millions of impressions on Twitter.
Other unique events this year included: live Q&A’s with Milton Jones, Tony Slattery, Arthur Smith and Lost Voice Guy, the Leicester Mercury Comedian of the Year Competition, Silver Stand Up Competition, Comedy in the Dark for Kids and Hotel De Comedie. The Festival also hosted a special benefit show, headlined by Jo Brand, to raise money for the festival and its charity Big Difference Company.
Leicester Comedy Festival 2021 will take place from the 10-28 February. For more information visit www.comedy-festival.co.uk
