THE STAND COMEDY CLUB

THE ROAD HAS BEEN ROCKY FOR STAND-UP COMEDY THIS YEAR, NEWCASTLE’S STAND COMEDY CLUB HAVE (JUST ABOUT) WEATHERED THE STORM, ANTHONY DORMAN TALKS ABOUT ADAPTING TO ONLINE STREAMING AND KEEPING AUDIENCES LAUGHING

When the original Government advice was for people not to visit bars, theatres etc. we realised we would need to act quickly to offer an alternative service and that we had the venue, acts, technology and social media reach to make an online show work. Within three days of conception we had booked a line-up, arranged the filming, set up a bespoke donation page and livestreamed via YouTube, Facebook and Twitter to over 400,000 viewers.

The success of our Saturday Night Live At The Stand show has been highly influenced by the interaction between the public and host. This is all done in real time with our social media team feeding live comments, shout outs and heckles to our host. We have been told many times that our show has been a highlight for many people over lockdown and that the viewers have felt part of the show itself. Logistically it’s a live show and anything can happen, so there is an element of excitement which has been well loved. The show was only meant to run for a short while to entertain people, help provide income to us during our time of need. The continuing pandemic and its effect on our venues have meant that this show has been our main outlet to entertain people and keep our business alive and in people’s minds.

There have been many big names on the show but my personal highlight has been our regular host Mark Nelson. He has provide a voice to the show that people have warmly embraced. He’s incredibly professional, very funny and also able to talk about issues that we are all facing. His rant about lockdown mental health was probably my biggest highlight. He took a sensitive subject and treated it with honesty and humour. The other main highlight was actually realising that the first show was such a huge success. As I had initially proposed the show I felt an overwhelming sense of pride and relief that it had worked so well; it drained me physically and emotionally and a few tears were shed before a few (many) drinks were consumed!

When it came to doing shows in the courtyard, Richard Turner our venue manager and his team did an amazing job with their Covid-19 procedures and won lots of praise from the public, acts and organisations alike. There was a buzz about the first show, everyone was really up for it and we believed it to be the first step to a return to live comedy. As soon as we were allowed to move the courtyard shows indoors with reduced capacity we did and again these were greatly received. We had Kevin Bridges, Daniel Sloss, Omid Djalili and our weekend mixed-bill shows and they were a success.

Without the live shows I doubt we would have survived the pandemic so far. Nothing beats a room full of people enjoying themselves; The Stand was built on this ethos – entertain people with good quality affordable comedy, make the venues safe, cosy and welcoming and create buzz. Virtual comedy can only do that to a point so we really need actual shows ASAP.

There are shows on sale now, including Simon Evans, Reginald D Hunter, Sindhu Vee and more. Our main objective is to survive the pandemic, offer laughter to people as much as we can in the ways that we can and to come back stronger for 2021.

www.thestand.co.uk