Let's break out of this niche

Alan Varley imagines where comedy could go

Have you seen any live comedy in the last few months? If you have think about where and when you saw it and I’ll use my psychic powers to try to work it out.

First think about the place. Did you see more than one comedian during the show? Did you see two, three or half a dozen comedians? I'm sensing that I'm on the right track. You saw a series of comedians: one comedian did some comedy and another comedian did some comedy and another comedian did some comedy and so on until one of the comedians said that the show was over. Is that what happened?

Now I want you to think about the time. When you went to see the comedy was it light outside? Was it light but not bright, not the sort you see in the late morning or in an afternoon? Was it the light you see in an evening? After you had seen the comedy was it dark? Had the sun set and the street lights come on? Was it the light you see at night?

So one evening you went to see some live comedy, you saw a few comedians do some live comedy one after the other and then at the end of the show you came out and it was night? Am I right? Yes? You went to a comedy club, didn't you? A comedy show? Maybe the comedy club or show was in a theatre or pub or arena but it followed the same pattern: started in the evening, comedy, comedy and more comedy until it finished at night.

That's how the live comedy scene works, isn't it? It's part of the night time economy. Some people go to pubs and drink for a few hours, some people go to a theatre and watch a play for a few hours, some people go to a nightclub and dance for a few hours, some people go to a concert and listen to live music for a few hours and some people go to a comedy club and listen to and watch live comedy for a few hours. You make your choice and you often pay your money, usually paying only once a night in the hope of staying to the end and getting your money’s worth. That's the way it is. What’s wrong with that?

There's nothing wrong with that if live comedy must be put in the correct box which must be opened in the correct place at the correct time. There's nothing wrong with that if you're happy with live comedy being in a ghetto, segregated from other forms of entertainment or culture.

There's nothing wrong with that if you're happy with live comedy being produced, marketed and sold in accordance with an established business model in a market with small open mic nights at the bottom and a top tier of comedians performing to 20,000 people in arenas and then releasing a recording of the show on DVD for those who couldn't get tickets, who couldn't afford tickets or who went to the show but couldn't see or hear much.

Whilst walking around the streets of Britain I’ve seen buskers playing guitars, keyboards, violins (solo and as part of a string quartet), accordions, bagpipes, drums (without any other accompaniment - just a drummer playing on their own) or singing over a backing track (presumably the opera singer couldn’t get an orchestra to play for them on a street corner). I’ve also seen dancers, jugglers, unicyclists, fire breathers, people pretending to be statues, artists drawing in chalk on a canvas stuck to the pavement and even a sand sculptor. I have never seen a comedian performing in a street.

Perhaps busking comedians exist and I’ve never seen them or perhaps they don’t exist. If there are no busking comedians why aren’t there any? Some comedians and types of comedy would not be suited to busking but shoppers, shop workers and other people walking around town and city centres might be more likely to appreciate a comedian telling one-liners than another musician performing a solo acoustic cover version of Wonderwall.

Imagine the following scenario. In a cafe there is a sudden late morning rush of customers coming in and ordering meals. At midday dozens of people are sat in the cafe tucking into their main course or drinking tea or coffee whilst they wait for their order and then a comedian stands up in the corner of the cafe and performs. After 20 minutes the comedian says there will be an interval and the audience get some desserts and more drinks. After the interval the comedian performs another twenty minutes of comedy and then the audience leave and the comedian can perform the same material at 1pm to another audience which comes into the comedy cafe for a later lunch.

Live comedy at lunchtime in a cafe may not work or may not work as it does in a comedy club (the full-mouthed may have to express their amusement by banging their cutlery on the table). However, it may work because the audience can enjoy some food, drink and comedy at the same time and then do whatever else they want to do that afternoon.

One place where live comedy can be found outside the confines of comedy clubs is at music festivals which have undergone a boom in the last two decades with new festivals being launched and established festivals expanding in terms of both the capacity of the venue and the range of acts performing. Some festivals book comedians but they tend to perform in a comedy tent. While live comedy may be more suited to an enclosed space with a capacity of 1,000 rather than an open-air stage what happens if more festival-goers want to see a particular comedian than the comedy tent can hold? What if 10,000 or 100,000 festival-goers want to see a comedian?

Why can’t some comedians be put on the outdoor stages or even the main stage? Why can’t comedians perform on the main stage in the gaps between sets when roadies are removing the last band’s equipment and backdrop and setting up for the next band? Instead of watching a dark silent stage the audience could be watching a comedian. It may not work or it could work brilliantly, especially if the comedian wrote a set especially for the festival and its vast crowd.

In recent years there has been a lot of discussion about the state of the comedy scene and what it may look like in future. Recent innovations in comedy include dedicated comedy channels on TV, podcasts, websites such as College Humor and Funny Or Die, Twitter comedians, comedians selling downloads directly to fans, pay-per-view TV specials, Hulu, Netflix and Amazon producing shows viewable on their own platforms, The Comedy Store: Raw & Uncut film in cinemas and YouTube Comedy Week.

While these innovations may be financially viable they are taking us down the route of making art forms and genres separate, a route taken by radio, TV and live entertainment which have increasingly focussed on creating stations, channels and venues super-serving niche audiences rather than offering a variety with something for everyone.

For years people have been able gorge themselves on golden oldies, classical music, sport, films, live bands or dance music. I fear that comedy will go the same way and become even more of a niche product made to meet the expectations of a few and found in places that only that few know. Will future generations find great comedy and enjoy the comedy of the unexpected in an unexpected place and time? I don’t expect they will.