Arts Council England boost for Live Comedy Day 2027 and new UK comedy sector report
The Live Comedy Association (LCA) has announced it has received Arts Council England funding to support a programme of events and activities over the next 10 months. The funding, worth £45,000, will help the organisation continue its work to get live comedy recognised as an essential part of the creative industries. The project will support Live Comedy Day 2027, the next UK Live Comedy Sector Report, work to champion the live comedy sector to regional Mayors, and deliver a series of free membership events for comedians and people working in live comedy across the UK. The programme will be delivered in partnership with organisations including Soho Theatre, Komedia Bath, Centre for Comedy Studies Research, Music Venue Trust and Night Time Industries Association. Further details about the project is available by visiting https://livecomedyassociation.co.uk/arts-council
The LCA is the only membership organisation in the UK representing people who work in live comedy. The community interest company (CIC) was set up in April 2020 and members include comedians, comedy clubs, promoters, venues, festivals and other people who rely on live comedy to earn their living. Since the CIC was set up, it has:
- led the negotiations with Government (March 2022) to lobby for support for live comedy as part of the Cultural Renewal Fund
- submitted a response to the Culture, Media and Sport select committee evidence committee and secured a parliamentary debate on the Live Comedy sector (April 2025)
- distributed thousands of pound worth of hardship grants to comedians and comedy organisations, firstly during the pandemic and most recently to those unpaid by Big Difference Company, the charity behind Leicester Comedy Festival.
- hosted a programme of members events focusing on different topics, together with an annual networking event
- launched a free online interactive map showing the location of comedy clubs, standup nights and comedy festivals across the UK
- hosted a parliament drop in session (June 2026) for MPs to meet and learn more about our work. This event led to over 60 MPs supporting our work and 47 of these signing a letter to the Culture Secretary asking for formal recognition that live comedy is an essential part of the UK’s creative industries
Jessica Toomey, Director of Live Comedy Association, said: “We are thrilled with this funding and want to thank Arts Council England for their support. This programme will directly support people working in the live comedy sector and our aim is for it to make a massive difference to the world we all work in. Since 2020 we have been working on behalf of our members to gain greater acknowledgement of the contribution live comedy makes to the UK’s creative industries. This project helps us get to the next stage of our work and we can’t wait to get started.
We also want to thank all our partner organisations and all the National Lottery players as every lottery ticket purchased generates money which is partly distributed by Arts Council England.”
In the autumn the LCA will bring together representatives of those working in the live comedy sector and Arts Council England, including Darren Henley ACE Chief Executive, to continue discussions around the needs of the industry and how we might collaborate in the future.