A PUNTASTIC event is taking place in Leicester tonight, with contestants set to battle it out to be crowned the king or queen of quick witted wordplay.
The eighth ‘UK Pun Championships’ are taking place tonight (Monday, February 7), at De Montfort Hall.
The popular event, which is a highlight of Leicester’s annual Comedy Festival, is designed to celebrate the great British pun, with contestants from across the UK.
Video: Leicester Comedy Festival
The live show follows the format of a rap battle and takes place in a boxing ring surrounded by the audience who sit in the round. Topics are picked randomly on the night and competitors then take it in turns to pun about that particular topic.
Audiences vote for their favourite pun, by way of woops & cheers, and the winner goes through to the next round. After a full evening of pun based comedy, two finalists then fight it out until a winner is crowned.
In 2020, Adele Cliffe was crowed the winner.
This year’s participants are: Pauline Eyre, Richard Pulsford, Friz Frizzle, Iain MacDonald, Chris Norton walker, Rob Thomas, Richard Woof-lord and Jenan Younis.
A total sell out for the past 6 years, The UK Pun Championships returns to De Montfort Hall as the culmination of #UKPunDay, which attracted over 30 million impressions on twitter in 2017.
“The UK Pun Championships is always one of the highlights of our festival and this year’s event promises to be yet another hilarious evening of pun-related silliness,” said Geoff Rowe, Founding Director of the Leicester Comedy Festival.
“Our last winner Adele Cliff was a worthy champion and we can’t wait to see this year’s pun-testants battling it out in the ring once again.”
Today, Pun fans around the country are encouraged to get involved in UK pun day, by sharing their best puns on social media, using the hashtag #UKPunDay.
To find out more, or to book a ticket, visit: https://comedy-festival.co.uk/uk-pun-championships
