Fears sector will be overlooked when £1.57bn emergency arts funding is allocated Coronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageThree-quarters of British comedy venues face closure within a year without financial support, according to a su…
Continue ReadingWhile they wait for clubs to reopen, standups are returning to the stage in car parks, with audiences tuning in on the radioIn his new Netflix special, US standup Dave Chappelle reflected on the drive-in comedy shows that have sprung up while clubs are…
Continue ReadingUK venues are in peril and standups can’t make a living if clubs are closed. Without support, we’ll lose talent as well as theatres I have fond memories of playing Southampton’s Nuffield theatre, which is now closing due to the pandemic – a fate likely…
Continue ReadingThe late-night hub is replacing its cancelled fringe programme with new virtual offerings alongside archive footage The Gilded Balloon, Edinburgh’s uproarious palace of late-night comedy, has announced a season of work to replace its cancelled fringe p…
Continue ReadingAre seatless, stroll-through shows the future of theatre? Can one-way dancing save nightclubs? Could budding indie bands storm Wembley stadium? Scientists imagine the arts after Covid-19The day before museums began closing in Britain, I saw Aubrey Bear…
Continue ReadingIn our series pairing veteran black artists with younger talents for a frank chat about their experiences, comedians Gina Yashere and London Hughes reveal why they both felt the need to quit Britain for the USBorn and raised in London, Gina Yashere, 46…
Continue ReadingWith venues locked down, entertainment-starved audiences are getting in gear for a season of opera, comedy shows and movies experienced from your own car seat – but is it an artistic cul de sac? Britain has never been good at drive-ins. Historically ou…
Continue ReadingCoached by Tom Parry, the comedy collective No Direction Home are bucking stereotypes about refugees and migrants – and thriving online during lockdown‘Let me tell you something more about my miserable life,” says Usman Khalid, with a miserable face. T…
Continue ReadingThe festival will roll out a series of ‘artistic interventions’ across the Scottish capital in AugustA series of “artistic interventions” has been announced by the Edinburgh international festival (EIF) to take place across the Scottish capital in Augu…
Continue ReadingFrom care work to shelf-stacking, many standups have taken up jobs to survive lockdown – highlighting how privilege has created a two-tier system in comedyOn 16 March, when Boris Johnson advised people to avoid pubs and theatres, the effect on live com…
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