Gigs to be live-streamed in VR

The Comedy Store is swapping its regular Friday-night shows for a new 3D virtual reality experience.

For the next three weeks, the iconic Central London club will host stand-up performances that will be be live-streamed to owners of headsets around the world.

According to VR company Pico, ‘viewers will feel like they are immersed in the show, positioned with an unrivalled view and connection with the comedians’.

People at home will also be can also interact with the performers, using emoji buttons at different points, while the technology will provide a 360-degree view in 8K video quality.

The first 40-minute show, to be streamed from 7pm this Friday, will be hosted by Mark Watson with a line-up comprising Russell Kane,  Kiri Pritchard-McLean and Joshua Bethania. They will also be available on catch-up for about two weeks

Episodes will be available to owners of the £379 Pico 4 and Pico Neo 3 Link headsets developed by ByteDance, the Chinese owners of TikTok – .

Producers Iain Funnell and Yiyun Tang said: ‘We’re looking at lots of different ways we can expand our ever-growing content offering, and this is just one in series of live experiences we have lined up for this year.’

This is not the first time comedy gigs have been broadcast in VR. Last year, Manchester’s Frog and Bucket streamed a gig for Oculus headsets on the Infiniverse platform. Montreal’s Just For Laughs Festival has also experimented with the format and UK-based Australian comic Bec Hill released her 2019 special I’ll Be Bec on the  LIVR platform, following in the footsteps of Lancashire stand-up Freddy Quinne.

Free tickets to be in the live audience are available via SRO Audiences,

Published: 22 Feb 2023