THE LEAGUE OF GENTLEMEN to Present the 2017 lastminute.com Edinburgh Comedy Awards

Today Nica Burns, Director of the Awards revealed that the League of Gentlemen, who won the award for Best Comedy Show 20 years ago are flying specially to Edinburgh to join 2016 lastminute.com Best Comedy Show winner Richard Gadd to present this year's awards.

Nica Burns, Director of the Awards says: "The League Of Gentlemen - Mark Gatiss, Steve Pemberton and Reece Shearsmith, and co- writer Jeremy Dyson - won the award in 1997 over an outstanding shortlist: Al Murray, Graham Norton, Johnny Vegas and Milton Jones. Who at the time, would have thought that all the shortlisted acts would become household names?

"The League have gone on to be incredibly successful writers as well as performers, equally at home in drama as with comedy. They have worked consistently across all entertainment strands, equally brilliant whether on television, film, on stage in the west End or writing books and scripts. We are delighted to welcome them back to the Edinburgh Fringe where their work was first created and recognised."

The League's Award-winning show brought them to the attention of the BBC, and the first episode of Welcome to Royston Vasey was aired in January 1999. Three series later and they'd won numerous awards including a Bafta, a Royal Television Society Award and the Golden Rose of Montreux. They also fulfilled a lifetime ambition when they made their feature film The League of Gentlemen's Apocalypse. The show will return in 2019 with a special to celebrate its 20th TV anniversary.

The four members of the League of Gentlemen have also carved out impressive and wide-reaching solo careers.

Steve Pemberton has, in addition to starring and writing with Reece Shearsmith Inside No 9, become a regular in TV dramas such as Whitechapel, Doctor Who, Under the Greenwood Tree, Hotel Babylon, The Last Detective, Blackpool, Shameless and Benidorm. He also appears regularly in the West End, most recently receiving outstanding reviews in a revival of Terry Johnson's Dead Funny.

Mark Gatiss has won a new legion of fans writing and playing Mycroft in the award winning series Sherlock, which he created with Steven Moffat. He has also appeared in Game of Thrones as Tycho Nestoris, in Wolf Hall as Stephen Gardiner and in Channel 4's Coalition. On stage he has appeared in Alan Ayckbourn's Season's Greetings at the Royal National Theatre, alongside Catherine Tate; The Recruiting Officer at the Donmar; Charles I at Hampstead Theatre; Coriolanus at the Donmar (Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role nomination) and most recently Mark was on stage in the West End in The Boys in the Band.

Reece Shearsmith has appeared in numerous stage productions including the West End stage version of The Producers, Cameron Mackintosh's Betty Blue Eyes, Hangman at the Royal Court and The Dresser at Chichester Festival Theatre. With Steve Pemberton he writes Inside No.9, now in its third series.

Jeremy Dyson has written several books and two collections of short stories. He co-created the BAFTA nominated TV series Funland and he co-wrote the hit West End play Ghost Stories with Andy Nyman. Jeremy currently writes and acts as script supervisor for the BBC sketch comedy series Tracey Ullman's Show.

The winners of the 2017 lastminute.com Edinburgh Comedy Awards will be announced on Saturday 26 August at a ceremony at the Dovecote Studios.

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