Some standups see it as their job to provide collective catharsis for the coronavirus, while others see pandemic gags as off-limits – even ones about Trump
“I’ve been getting a lot out of lockdown – boobs, for example.” It’s Monday night at the Amersham Arms in New Cross, and live comedy is happening to a socially distanced audience. Phil Nichol is joking about Covid-era weight gain. Yuriko Kotani cracks a gag about people who won’t wear masks. MC Sion James makes disinfecting the mic look like a hand job.
But apart from that, it’s remarkable how few gags there are about coronavirus. It could be the biggest global crisis since the second world war – but you’d never guess from tonight’s standup, where the subject is tiptoed around. Covid-19 is not, it transpires, another Brexit or Trump, those topical gifts that keep on giving to professional humourists. It’s a trickier customer. Do you poke fun at a pandemic that’s killing millions? Or joke about something else entirely, and look like you’re running scared of the one subject on everyone’s mind? And how do you do either when your livelihood is under threat, and the way you’ve always created comedy is becoming less and less sustainable?
