Rik Mayall honoured at Leicester Comedy Festival Awards
Rik Mayall was named the posthumous recipient of the 'Legend Of Comedy' title at the Leicester Comedy Festival Awards 2015.
The award, which is voted for by festival goers and readers of the Leicester Mercury newspaper, was accepted on behalf of the late comedian by Alexei Sayle.
Sayle said of his friend, who died suddenly in 2014: "It was such a terrible shock when he died. Awards like this continue to keep his memory alive."
The festival's annual awards were presented at a ceremony last night at The Grand Hotel in Leicester.
The other winners were as follows:
Best New Show: Romesh Ranganathan for Rom Wasn't Built in a Day. Notably, the stand-up is a previous winner of the Leicester Mercury Comedian of the Year competition.
Best Festival Debut: Phil Jerrod. Judges awarded him the trophy for "his innovative stream-of-consciousness style, inspired by a cruel and harsh upbringing in Middle-class rural Warwickshire".
Contribution to the 2015 Festival Award: Nick Wisdom, and De Montfort Hall. The son of the late, great comedy icon Norman Wisdom was thanked for A Lifetime in Showbusiness: A Tribute to Sir Norman Wisdom, the "lovingly curated exhibition" that ran during the festival, celebrating the life and work of his father.
Liberty Award: Lynn Ruth Miller. The oldest performing stand-up comedian on both sides of the Atlantic picked up the award based on the tweets from performers and members of the public about their favourite show.
Further awards went to Curve (Best Venue, Over 200 capacity), The Cookie (Best Venue, Under 200 capacity); The Cookie (Best Promoter); Leicester City Libraries (Make Me Happy Community Project); Paul Banks, Peril Design (Best Poster) and Lucy Bloomfield, Reach Marketing (Lifetime Contribution).
Festival director Geoff Rowe - pictured with Alexei Sayle at last night's ceremony - says: "Our annual Awards Ceremony has become an important part of the Festival as we say a huge thank you to everyone who has been involved.
"The Festival has become a place where new talent can get spotted as well as an opportunity for us to recognise great British comedy performers.
"Recent tributes have paid respect to Sir Norman Wisdom and Ken Dodd, and this year it was a chance for us to acknowledge Rik Mayall, who truly deserves the title of Legend of Comedy."
The Leicester Comedy Festival will return in February 2016.