Live comedy brings huge benefits to the UK economy – according to a new survey of people working in the sector.
The Live Comedy Association and the Centre for Comedy Studies, together with the British Comedy Guide surveyed more than 350 people working in the industry.
Results will be published later this year in a joint report by Dr Sharon Lockyer and Dr Simon Weaver.
David Elphick, co-Chair of the Live Comedy Association, said “The contribution live comedy makes to the UK is really important and we now have a much better sense of the detail behind this. We now know, for example, that live comedy is more accessible than theatre with average ticket prices for comedy being almost 23 per cent cheaper than for theatre. We also know that the majority of live comedy helps support the night time economy across the country, with almost 48 per cent of venues being based in city centres. We also know that between five to ten jobs are supported in venues, in addition to those directly associated with the performances.”
The UK Live Comedy Sector is estimated to be worth in excess of £1billion to the economy.
Around 80 per cent of people who work off stage promote live comedy in venues with capacities less than 250 people highlighting the “grass roots” nature of the sector. Around 45 per cent of gigs regularly sell between 71-90 per cent of their available tickets, suggesting attendance across the board is pretty healthy.
The survey suggests that more live comedy shows are taking place outside the capital, with the shows being promoted across the North West and Midlands both scoring well in terms of the number of shows taking place in those regions. Some responses recorded the growth in gigs on cruise ships and also the continued opportunities of gigging internationally.
Ticket prices are fairly accessible compared to theatre with 43 per cent reporting prices are between £13-£18. Almost half (48 per cent) of venues are based in city centres, but 19 per cent are in town centres. Almost two thirds of venues (68 per cent) sell both food & drink, and comedy shows support an additional five to ten jobs in venues which are used for shows. Almost half (41 per cent) of people working off stage report their audiences are fairly local, travelling less than 10 miles to get to shows.
Almost 70 per cent of comedians who responded to the survey don’t have any representation and work alone to get live work although 38 per cent are part of a union, or trade organisation which provides some support to them when required.
Jess Toomey, co-Chair of the Live Comedy Association said “We are delighted with the initial results of the survey and want to thank everyone who completed it. Although the survey was anonymous, it is clear that a broad range of people working in live comedy answered the questions and gave us valuable data. We know more about a part of the sector but we now want to do more work to quantify the total amounts generated. We can use the initial results to continue to lobby and advocate to the new government and policy makers to help all those who do such amazing work. We will now work through the results in more detail and we will report in more detail later this year.”
The partnership behind the survey will now start commencing the number crunching and looking at the responses in more detail. A full report will be published later this year together with an event due to take place as part of Leicester Comedy Festival 2025.
