A group of Salford comedians streamed an online comedy night in an effort to provide lockdown laughs to the area.
The New Adelphi Comedy Night was streamed on YouTube and featured professional improvisation comedians and students going head-to-head in games and sketches.
Tom Roberts, 18, is a stand-up comic from North Wales and a Salford University student, he said: “I really enjoyed it, coming into it I was like ‘I’m going to give it everything I’ve got’.
“It started off as different improv games, one was based off audience topics, that was quite off the cuff. Then it was panel-based with teams.”
The event was in collaboration with ComedySportzUK and was filmed from each Salford comedians home, with the audience providing commentary and ideas as the show went on.
The show was a success, but Tom noted how doing live comedy online comes with its challenges.
He said: “Whenever I’ve done stand-up gigs I can just see myself on the screen, and there are sometimes little boxes for the people but you can’t hear them laugh and you can’t really see them.
“You could be telling a terrible joke and you don’t have that inkling to stop.”
Having to do comedy online does have it’s benefits however, as the improvisation segments need audience interaction.
Tom said: “For improv it’s not as hard because you’re in your own zone with the improv group. When you need the audience you can just ask them to type and things like that.”
With businesses opening up across the UK, most indoor gatherings are still unable to go ahead, so attendees to these events are still having to get their comedy online.
Tom said: “The audience doesn’t get the same experience online as they do in person. You will still find a lot more comedians doing it online though.
“I’m definitely excited to go back, that’s what gets your heart going when there’s actual people you can see. It’s more real.”
You can find out more about the comedy nights on the New Adelphi Theatre Twitter.
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