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11 Jul 2020

Steve Coogan warns if the government don’t help comedy venues, ‘We’ll find ourselves in ten years time with nothing to laugh at’

Europe Editor and Presenter

A new campaign has been launched to protect the future of live comedy – after research showed more than three quarters of venues fear they’ll be forced to close down within the next year.

More than half of  performers are worried that they’ll have to leave comedy altogether by early next year – unless live performances are able to return.

Campaigners want the comedy industry to be part of the Government’s emergency funding schemes for the arts.

Earlier we spoke to the comedian and writer Steve Coogan. We began by asking him why he thought comedy should get a specific allocation of cash.