'Experience the show as I intended'

Bec Hill is to release a comedy special in virtual reality.

Her show, I’ll Be Bec, will be the first stand-up performance on the LIVR platform, which normally focusses on theatre shows.

She said: ‘It is the most theatrical show I have ever performed, which meant I was keen for as many people as possible to see it live. But it is too expensive for me to tour on an independent budget, as it needs an entire team to set up and perform. That meant the Edinburgh Fringe was the last time I could afford to perform the show live

‘Releasing the show in this format now means those unable to attend the Fringe can now experience it from an actual audience member's point of view.

‘Often, with most filmed shows, a certain magic is lost once it's on screen. And with comedy, you're essentially watching and listening to the audience laugh. However, the LIVR version means you can laugh with the audience. Viewers get to fully experience the show as I intended when I wrote it: with all the twists, turns and surprises included.

‘I'll Be Bec is a show all about the future and our potential when it comes to communication and technology. So what better way to release it than via a platform filled with potential and the most advanced way I have encountered to communicate a live experience?’

She is not the first comedian to release a special in VR. American comic Reggie Watts has been using the technology for several years, and  Lancashire stand-up Freddy Quinne recorded his special Quite the Catch in VR at Liverpool’s Hot Water Comedy Club in 2017. Shows from the Gotham Comedy Club and Upright Citizens Brigade in New York have also been filmed in virtual reality.

Hill added that offering shows via VR would also help people with disabilities or social anxieties get to experience live stand-up as realistically as possible, without the need to travel to a possibly loud and inaccessible venue.

Subscribers to LIVR pay £5.99 a month, which allows them to watch one show in that period.  I’ll Be Bec will be released on November 8.

Published: 1 Nov 2019