Covid in Scotland: Why lockdown is no joke for comedy clubs

Scotland's comedy clubs have been forced to close since March last year

Lockdown has hit live indoor events as hard as any industry and, for comedy promoters, the experience has been not been at all amusing.

The Glee Club has had little to smile about since being forced to close its doors in March 2020 as the Covid pandemic began to sweep the country.

With one comedy and music venue in Glasgow and four others in England and Wales, revenues have been shattered in the past year.

The company had forecast income of close to £5m across all of its clubs for 2020.

It ended up bringing in less than £1m - and that was almost entirely down to cash generated in the months leading up to lockdown.

Staff numbers have also taken a hit. From a headcount of 140 going into the pandemic, it has just over 100 still on the books.

'Emotional rollercoaster'

Glee Club chief executive Mark Tughan, who founded the business 26 years ago, says: "It's been a business and emotional rollercoaster and something I hope we as a company, and as a team of people, never have to endure again.

"But we've survived, managed to pay our creditors, landlords, staff, and importantly, have been able to honour refunds for our customers."

Glee club boss Mark Tughan says the last year has been a "rollercoaster"

Mr Tughan draws little comfort from this week's decision by the Scottish government to allow venues such as theatres, concert halls and comedy clubs to reopen on Monday.

While comedy clubs south of the border will be able to bring in audiences under England's one-metre physical distancing rule next week, Scottish venues face a much bigger challenge - at least in the short term.

Customers will be subject to two-metre separation for at least the next few weeks as the Scottish government conducts a review of guidelines.

Mr Tughan says that will cut shows to a small fraction of capacity, leaving him with no choice but to keep his club in Glasgow shut for some time to come.

"Even one-metre distancing is for many (including us) really just a breakeven situation," he says.

"There's no point in sugar-coating this. The essence of live comedy is that it's a shared experience, and 50 people dotted around a large room all spaced out is just not a night out."

It is a similar picture for The Stand, which before lockdown could rely on large audiences turning up for live performances at its three comedy club venues.

The Stand, which operates in Glasgow, Edinburgh and Newcastle, has also been counting the cost of the pandemic measures.

The promoters have lost about £4m in anticipated revenues and have had to shed more than half of their original workforce of 60.

Managing director Mike Jones says: "The abrupt enforced closure of all three of our venues meant that almost 100% of our income stopped overnight.

"With ongoing premises and staffing costs we clearly faced a significant financial challenge."

Mike Jones says lockdown forced his company to lay off half of its staff

The business was forced to turn to the government for support in the shape of rates relief, grants for hospitality businesses and the Job Retention Scheme.

It also received funding from Creative Scotland and Arts Council England for its Newcastle venue.

Mr Jones says: "Comedy was formally recognised as a legitimate art form and the funding that we received was crucial to helping us survive.

"We're still in the game but now face the challenge of rebuilding our business and being able to reopen our venues to start that process."

The fact that its venues are divided between Scotland and England has also presented its challenges.

While its Scottish bases remained firmly shut, government guidance in England allowed the company to open for performances in Newcastle between August and October.

But audience numbers were heavily restricted, with 34 customers initially allowed in its outdoor courtyard, and later 90 people indoors. Its normal capacity in Newcastle is 300.

That meant hard decisions had to be made to keep the entire business afloat.

"All staff, including me, have been at least part furloughed throughout," says Mr Jones.

"We undertook a redundancy process in August 2020 and had to make around 30 venue and office staff redundant."

'Not viable'

The Stand plans to reopen in England in May but it is a different story for its Scottish venues under the two-metre rule.

Mr Jones reckons it will mean only 12 people will be able to sit in the company's 160-capacity Edinburgh venue.

"I don't understand the rationale that pubs can open on a one-metre social distancing basis but theatres and comedy clubs have to stick to two metres," he says.

"It's just not viable for us to reopen if we can only achieve 10% to 20% of normal capacity."

It has been a similarly painful year for the promoters behind the Glasgow-based Rotunda Comedy Club, as well as The Comedy Cabaret in Aberdeen and Leeds.

'Numbers have flatlined'

Director Dr Andy Greer says his staff - who are all freelance - have had to find alternative work or claim benefits since lockdown began.

"The main challenge over the last 13 months has been keeping live entertainment live," he says.

"We operate at four sites across the UK, generating a minimum of 54 freelance positions and entertaining around 1,000 customers each week.

"These numbers have flat-lined at zero over lockdown due to the restrictions across the UK."

Dr Greer says "there is no real substitute for the intimacy of a comedy club"

Dr Greer says his company tried everything possible to keep live stand-up going during the lockdown, including pioneering "drive-in" comedy shows.

That move involved converting a removal lorry into a stage-truck and purchasing Scotland's largest mobile event screen.

But the innovation proved to be short-lived.

Despite keeping shows to a one-hour duration, adopting contactless payments and enforcing social distancing of cars, Dr Greer says many shows had to be postponed as restrictions tightened.

He claims that the rules changed with less than 24 hours' notice.

The Rotunda Club staged "drive-in" comedy shows to keep business ticking over

The new social distancing rules are also a bone of contention for the promoter.

Dr Greer makes the point that there is no real substitute for the intimacy of a comedy club.

He says: "The secret sauce for a successful stand-up comedy club business is the proximity and density of audience members within the room.

"Like a campfire, the closer you are to the action the better it is. Laughter is contagious and this is critical for enjoyment."

'Dry period'

He is also worried about the timing of the new rules.

"The other concern for indoor venues is, that come June, the market for being inside is compromised by good weather.

"Outdoor events always take precedence in summer, so we could end up with indoor events being worse off if they are exempt from support due to being allowed to reopen during, literally, the dry period."

But despite all the problems, some in the business have far from lost hope for the future.

Glee Club boss Mark Tughan says: "I think live comedy is sorely missed and is on everyone's list to get back to when possible.

"I think the public have been hugely patient, and my hunch is that we'll be a popular choice again for a big night out."

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