The Londoner: Help for stand-up comics to get back on their feet

In today's Diary: Comics set up support network / Liam Gallager's alternative career / The Londoner on VE Day / Priti Patel makes creative use of her Red Box 
Offering support: Matt Forde
Getty Images for Bauer Media
7 May 2020

Stand-UP comedians, producers and promoters have formed a collective network, the Live Comedy Association, to keep their industry alive during coronavirus. “We will get back on our feet,” founders Bríd Kirby, Owen Donovan and Charlie Perkins told the Londoner.

Comic Matt Forde told us: “The LCA has the potential to be the trade body that comedy has needed for a very long time. Comedy is often seen as something that you do on your own, but this crisis has highlighted the need for the comedy industry to think collectively.”

Kirby, Donovan and Perkins said they were surprised “by how many members joined on the first day of the association existing. That jump in members serves as proof that this type of organisation is desperately needed within the live comedy industry.”

They also warned that “the smallest venues and festivals, and the freelancers and comics who have the fewest number of years in the industry” would be hardest hit and needed most support.

Forde cautioned against “individuals trying to exploit this crisis for their own self-promotion” while adding, “tickets for all my rescheduled tour dates are available at …” Nice try.

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Boozing: Liam Gallagher (Photo: David Wolff - Patrick/Redferns)
Redferns

LIAM GALLAGHER has an unsurprising isolation top tip. “Alcohol. Lots of alcohol. I don’t know what I’d do without it in this situation.” Otherwise, he tells Q magazine, “I’d probably have to get into DIY and all that tackle. Cobbling shoes. I’d have a shed in the end of the garden. I’d be in there fixing everyone’s shoes.” Really? Or a load of old cobblers?

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We covered VE Day 75 years ago. “Many people were wondering why there was no mention of last night’s great storm in this morning’s newspapers... although the war ended officially today, the Censor was still with us then. For security reasons, no mention of the weather was allowed.” Imagine not being able to discuss the weather. True British sacrifice.

SW1A

Creative use: the Home Secretary (Photo: Priti Patel)

Priti Patel hosted the 4th National Policing Board remotely yesterday. What caught the Londoner’s eye in the photo she posted of herself during the meeting was what she balanced her laptop on. Of course there was no old shoebox or stack of books for the Home Secretary — she used her ministerial Red Box instead. If you’ve got it, flaunt it.

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Not everyone is embracing modern technology. While many MPs have auto-reply messages saying they will respond as soon as possible with signposts to their social media presence, Leader of the Commons Jacob Rees-Mogg’s says he only responds via letter. Scribed on goatskin parchment? Mind you, it’s a canny way to keep the inbox manageable.

Matches can be made in heavenly shades of blue

Fearne Cotton wore a blue dress for filming, saying she was enjoying finding things to match her blue wall for “an aesthetically pleasing outcome”. Matchy matchy. Presenter Nick Grimshaw and scion Romeo Beckham threw some shade(s), while actress Chloë Sevigny and partner Sinisa Mackovic celebrated a new baby. Not much to feel blue about.

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