Daniel Petrie Wins Leicester Mercury Comedian Of The Year Award
Daniel Petrie was awarded the prestigious title of Leicester Mercury Comedian of the Year 2023 at The Y Theatre in Leicester, as part of Leicester Comedy Festival. Daniel was declared the winner after a tough contest, which saw eight of the best emerging comedy acts in the country battling it out for the crown after performing their best seven minutes in front of an esteemed comedy industry panel and a sold-out audience. Each finalist had been selected by top comedy promoters from across the UK and earmarked as ones to watch in the future.
Second place was awarded to Vittorio Angelone and Shalaka Kurup came third.
On winning the prestigious title, Daniel said: “I still can’t quite believe it! All of the other comedians were great tonight and I definitely didn’t expect to win! Leicester Comedy Festival is one of the biggest fixtures in the comedy calendar so I’m absolutely thrilled to have been crowned Leicester Mercury Comedian of the Year. Thanks to everyone who came along to The Y Theatre this evening and of course, to the judges! I failed my driving test on Tuesday so it’s nice to get the week back on track.”
Celebrating its 30th anniversary in 2023, the renowned competition has been a springboard to fame for many comedians. Last year’s winner was Bristol-based comedian Firuz Ozari and other notable previous winners include Kate Lucas (2014), Romesh Ranganathan (2013), Josh Widdicombe (2010), Rhod Gilbert (2003), Jason Manford (2000) and Johnny Vegas (1997).
Leicester Comedy Festival Founder, Geoff Rowe, said: “The annual Leicester Mercury Comedian of the Year Competition is always a highlight of the annual Leicester Comedy Festival, especially so in this, the festival’s 30th anniversary year. We’re so proud of all the past winners and contestants, and it’s brilliant that the reputation of the competition has grown and grown over the years into now being one of the most prestigious comedy competitions in the UK. Huge congratulations to Daniel Petrie on winning this year, and I’m sure they will go on to a brilliant future career in live comedy.”
The judging panel for this year were: Charlotte Lang (Glastonbury Festival), Alex Hardy (Independent Comedy Producer, Director), Mark Olver (Belly Laughs Comedy), Mark Boosey (British Comedy Guide) and Sharlin Jahan (Brown Sauce Comedy Club).
The shortlisted Leicester Mercury Comedian of the Year finalists for 2023 were:
Daniel Petrie
Freya McGhee
Josephine Lacey
Mary Flanigan
Rahul Somia
Sergi Polo
Shalaka Kurup
Vittorio Angelone
About Leicester Comedy Festival:
The complete programme is available now at: www.comedy-festival.co.uk
Tickets available at: https://comedy-festival.co.uk/events/
Twitter: @LeicsComedyFest // Instagram: @LeicsComedyFest // Facebook: @LeicsComedyFest
Leicester Comedy Festival is Europe’s biggest and longest-running comedy festival. The event returned in 2022 with a fantastic line-up of hundreds of shows! The line-up featured over 560 shows, over 800 performances and 64 venues. As always, the festival hosted TV names, performing solo shows and the 2022 line-up saw a veritable who’s-who of comedy stars take to stages across the city – including Angela Barnes, Ahir Shah, Catherine Bohart, Ed Gamble, Henning Wehn, Katherine Ryan, Maisie Adam, Mark Watson, Nabil Abdulrashid, Nick Helm, Pam Ayres, Rachel Parris, Ria Lina, Richard Herring, Rosie Jones, Ross Noble, Seann Walsh, Simon Brodkin, Stewart Lee, Suzi Ruffell, Tim Key, Tony Slattery and many, many more.
About The UK Kids’ Comedy Festival.
The UK’s only comedy festival for kids is celebrating its fifth year in 2023. The UK Kids’ Comedy Festival’s key focus is to engage children in creative and social contact with others and provide shows for all the family to enjoy. With educational and participatory events to enable children to build self-confidence, make friends, have social interaction, and enhance creative development, there will be a series of workshops and events
About Big Difference
Big Difference is the charity which grew out of the hugely successful Leicester Comedy Festival. They are the same dedicated people, who work year-round with communities across Leicester and Leicestershire, producing programmes, projects and events to improve people’s lives through comedy, laughter and the arts.
