The Stand Comedy Club - which has branches in Edinburgh, Glasgow and Newcastle - streamed their Saturday night show last week (21 March) as a new experiment to keep people entertained during the coronavirus pandemic. It's also a way to keep the famed comedy club afloat at the same time: although the show was free, they asked for donations in order to help them stay afloat.
It was a huge success, with Phill Jupitus headlining, and excellent performances from the likes of Gareth Waugh and Mark Nelson.
Over 8000 people watched the stream, and so the Stand are planning to repeat the show this coming Saturday, with exclusive pre-recorded content from comedy heavyweight Frankie Boyle taking the headline spot, accompanied by Daniel Sloss, Fred MacAulay JoJo Sutherland, Ryan Cullen and Jay Lafferty, amongst others.
The Stand’s Managing Director Mike Jones said:
“When we closed our doors to the public on March 16 we were seriously concerned that we might never be able to open them again.
"We make most of our money from bar sales so no customers means no income. But we’ve never been ones to give up without a fight – not on our staff, who are all paid at least the Real Living Wage, not on our acts and not on our customers.
"With help from our amazing comedians and our friends at Dabster Productions we’re doing what we can to turn a massive negative in to something positive.
"Everyone needs a laugh right now, and the response to our first show completely blew us away, with people messaging to say it was the first time they’d laughed or felt close to normal in days.
"This made us all the more determined to keep going, and to do what we can to shed a little light on these dark times.
"There is an optional donate button for anyone willing and able to help us generate some revenue to help us through this difficult time. If you can’t donate, then it would be great if you could share the link, so we reach and cheer up as many people as possible.
"Any money we get will be split between the performers, the technicians making the program and the club. We're not asking for charity - we're trying to keep people working during the shutdown."
In addition to the donation link, The Stand are also encouraging people to purchase gift vouchers, memberships and tickets for future shows across all three venues.
