Hear, hear

Comedians and politicians may seem like strange bedfellows – often the most they might have in common is the likelihood they will wear suits – but comedy has received a parliamentary seal of a approval.

It has come in the form of an All Party Parliamentary Group on the UK Comedy Industry.

The new body, set up by Michael McCann MP and comedian John Moloney, met for its inaugural session this Tuesday and aims to “support and promote the UK comedy industry”.

The launch press release points out that “the creative industries in Britain employ more people than in engineering industry or the pharmaceutical industry” and continues:

The economic value [of comedy], which includes films, television and stand-up is absolutely massive, yet this goes unrecognised and unsupported.

I think you could probably extricate stand-up/live comedy from that group as the most deserving of support, given that TV is TV and film is film and they have support structures, kind of, don’t they? But I will happily stand corrected on a point of order.

That said, there is plenty to keep them busy on the live side. As Michael McCann MP said after the inaugural meeting:

The group is about much more than just celebrating the successes, it’s about tackling serious issues, for example, British comedians have difficulty getting visas to work in the USA, Canada and Australia, while the comedians from those countries can work here, why?

In addition, there is a VAT issue around selling tickets for comedy shows which means that there are treated differently to other creative industries, again an anomaly that needs to be examined.

Of course, with the not entirely implausible prospect of Scottish independence, some of these visa hiccups might be seen closer to home and affect that big industry jamboree and trade fair the Edinburgh Fringe festival.

So perhaps this APPG has come in the nick of time? Certainly, as someone who has previously banged on about the potential for comedians to be used by think tanks, anything that recognises their contribution either in terms of influence or discernible economic effect is welcome.

With a club circuit that is slightly wobbly and venues used by comedy and theatre that have the threat of closure hanging above them, constantly it seems in some cases, friends in high places are useful to have.