The UK Live Comedy Association (LCA) is hosting a series of membership meetings to update members on work that has taken place throughout 2024 and that planned for the future. The meetings, which will take place online and in person, will include detail from the UK live comedy survey which demonstrated the sector contributes over £1billion to the economy.
Dr Sharon Lockyer, Director Centre for Comedy Studies Research (Brunel University London) who speak at the meetings and present the full report from the survey. Other confirmed speakers include representatives from Sky Studios, The Comedy Trust and Big Difference Company. The first meetings will take place online in November, and these will be followed up by the first UK Live Comedy AGM & Lunch in February as part of Leicester Comedy Festival.
The LCA was set up during the pandemic to support and connect people working in live comedy sector across the UK. It was refreshed in 2023 when Jess Toomey & David Elphick became co-Chairs and gave the organisation a new focus and energy. Since then additional Directors have been appointed and they are being supported by Leicester Comedy Festival founder Geoff Rowe who is now freelance having left the festival after 30 years.
Jess Toomey, co-Chair of the LCA, said “we are absolutely committed to ensuring the LCA thrives and develops and we have been working hard over the last 12 months to put in place some of the basics to help us do this. We have also been lobbying the new government, and other policy makers, to recognise the live comedy sector and support it. We’re really looking forward to sharing more of this information with members at these meetings, and meeting up in person in February to continue the conversations.”
The UK Live Comedy Survey will be repeated each year to ensure data is available on the size and scale of the sector. The next survey is due to be published in June 2025 and will again be led by a partnership of the LCA and Centre for Comedy Studies Research. Other work the LCA has been doing has included meetings and dialogue with DCMS, Night Time Industries Association, Music Venue Trust and others. Initial meetings have been had with other similar membership organisations abroad to see if there might be benefit to working together in a global live comedy forum.
David Elphick, co-Chair of the Live Comedy Association, said “what is really clear to us is that if live comedy is going to be recognised alongside other art forms, like theatre, dance and film, it needs a functioning membership organisation to help shout about the contribution live comedy has to the UK. We are determined that the refreshed LCA will help give people a voice and ensure live comedy has a seat at the table. Over recent months we have been working hard in the background, and now are ready to share some of our work with our members. We are also seeking input from our members to help shape what we do in the future. I’m looking forward to chatting more about this when we all meet.”
Membership of the Live Comedy Association continues to be free and open to anyone currently working in any aspect of the live comedy sector across the UK.
Further information is available by visiting www.livecomedyassociation.co.uk
