Nina Gilligan has been named the winner of the Leicester Mercury Comedian Of The Year 2021 stand-up competition.
At last night’s event, the competition organisers said: “Nina Gilligan exploded onto the comedy scene in 2011 and since then has made a name for herself, being nominated and winning various competitions, before winning Leicester Mercury Comedian of the Year this evening. She is a regular on the UK circuit, performing her outrageous, observational, storytelling comedy.”
Nina said: “Absolutely stunning! I feel like – just because this year has been so weird – I feel like I might be in an anxiety dream. I’m not sure if I’m wearing my pants. Has this actually happened? It’s only the fifth gig back… this could be a dream. Someone pinch me!
“no, it’s fantastic, absolutely fantastic.”
Joseph Emslie and Christian Jegard were named runners up and they were joined contestants Arielle Souma, Dan Tiernan, Hassan Dervish, Jessie Nixon and 2019 Funny Women finalist Liz Guterbock.
Geoff Rowe, founding director of Leicester Comedy Festival, said: “Huge congratulations to Nina Gilligan on winning the competition. It’s great to welcome them to our comedy hall of fame, alongside some amazing past winners. The competition tonight was particularly special as it was the first live comedy show we have produced since February 2020, and is the first major comedy award of 2021. We are already planning for February 2022 when we hope to be fully back, welcoming comedians and audiences to hundreds of shows during Leicester Comedy Festival.”
Congratulations Nina!
