It’s that time of year once again as Leicester Comedy Festival hits our streets, and this year it’s sponsored by the mighty Dave. With 17 days of laughter and fun ahead we caught up with Suzi Ruffell before she performs on the opening day of the festival.

Describing her show as “observational and physical” Suzi tells audiences to expect a lot of storytelling, which all comes from her own personal experience.  It may be her debut show at Leicester Comedy Festival but Suzi has been gigging around the country for some 3 years and even grabbed a slot at last year’s Leicester Mercury Comedian of the Year Awards.

Not wanting to be too predictable I couldn’t help but raise the issue that always seems to raise its head – why do so many people have a general disliking of female comedians? “I have had a few people say this to me before, but thankfully I’d say it’s had no bearing on career so far. I suppose there are fewer women who choose to do stand-up, maybe because of the lifestyle and travelling around the country on your own, kind of thing. So perhaps because there are fewer women people take the path of thinking girls can’t do it. There are some fantastic female comedians though, you only have to look at how well Sarah Millican is doing at the moment. I find the best thing to do when somebody says it is to rattle off a list of amazingly funny women and shut them up completely. At the end of the day just come to my show and I’ll prove you wrong!

With comedy at an all time high and so many comedians touring it can be hard to keep up with new people on the scene and also old favourites.  “I really love Alan Carr and Eddie Izzard, there are so many I love! I saw Lee Evans a short while ago and he was fantastic, it’s simply an onslaught of physical comedy! It’s amazing how someone can turn putting on a hat into a whole routine. I actually like a lot of American comedy, there’s a lady called Wanda Sykes who’s doing amazing things over there at the moment. Although, let’s be honest, I’m surrounded by comedy everyday so it can be a bit of a busman’s holiday!

I actually came up and saw some shows at Leicester Comedy Festival last year. It’s amazing, there’s so much on! I’d really say that people should just go and take a punt on someone. 9 times out of 10 if they’re putting their own show on then they’re going to have some good material! People like Josh Widdicombe and Seann Walsh are guaranteed to be brilliant. I love watching them and being in their company! Also it’s so cheap to go to a lot of the shows! Take advantage! Grab a brochure and whichever tagline suits you the most, go and see the show!

Suzi Ruffell plays at The Criterion on Friday 3rd February, 8pm. Tickets cost £6

All festival listings, info and tickets can be found HERE.