by Sam Judd, Lizzy Lenco and Ian Younghusband

Three comedians with disabilities are creating a guide to accessible comedy venues. 

Sam Judd, Lizzy Lenco and Ian Younghusband here describe some of the challenges of performing stand-up on the circuit that inspire them to create Access More Areas.

It will be an online guide giving access information on venues and short reviews by acts with disabilities. And it plans to offer advice to acts and audience members who might have access needs.

In the first instance, suitable venues should email Lizzy.Lenco@gmail.com  until the scheme is fully established.

Here are their stories:

Lizzy Lenco

In December 2019, I was involved in road traffic collision that left me fighting for my life and permanently disabled. I was very new comedian when the accident happened, so getting back on stage wasn’t exactly a priority for me. 

Following lockdown, I realise that all of the ​things that I had done prior to my accident, such as climb, ski and surf, I could no longer do. The one thing I got better at was being funny. My sense of humour kept me afloat in the darkest times.

I can’t believe how much I laughed from my bed in the trauma centre , attached to tubes and wires, spending every waking moment with five other mangled women. I’m also surprised at how much my hospital stories make audiences laugh. 

I’ve had a lot of support from the comedy community including mentoring, fundraising for equipment and a wonderful compilation of comedy clips from my favourite acts. 

However, I’ve experienced challenges in returning to comedy. I can’t drive because of optic neuropathy and a head injury. The live comedy circuit is particularly difficult for those who can’t drive. I see gig postings stating ‘must be a driver’ and often the way to get known is to offer a lift to a well-known act. 

The recent train strikes mean I’ve had to pull out of gigs, but also the cost of trains and taxis mean that learning to be a comedian is prohibitively expensive for many with a visual impairment or brain injury. 

It can be intimidating late at night on public transport as I am quite vulnerable, so I appreciate the opening spot, or an early middle and the offer of a safe car share. A few amazing acts have gone out of their way to drive me to gigs. 

I’m good at handling a heckler but there have been more worrying audience interactions; people trying to touch my face, kiss me or grab my wheelchair. On one occasion, someone took my white stick.

I’ve found it tricky to get appropriate support that doesn’t involve being told ‘if you are not safe, you need to stop doing it’. Promoters can make comedy safer with zero tolerance to inappropriate behaviour. 

Even when I can get to a venue I often have to struggle with steps up to a stage, narrow stages and my own particular nemesis; the cluttered stage, full of trip hazards. 

Focussing on being funny, dealing with hecklers and trying not to fall off a stage is pretty exhausting. Although the audience might find an impromptu stage dive hilarious, with the long term effects of a broken pelvis and back, it’s not a risk I’m willing to take, even for a laugh. Promoters can address a lot of these issues by just checking the stage area. 

Creating accessible comedy isn’t about a feel good factor, it’s good for business. Some of the funniest acts on the circuit have a disability. I recently attended a gig where the headliner was visually impaired, it attracted visually impaired audience members, keen for comedy they could relate to. 

Venues that cater for access needs not only accommodate acts with a disability but increase the potential audience. Some will even come with their own seat. I use a wheelchair to help me cope with the pain of my injuries but it’s tricky to find venues that are wheelchair accessible, as my good friend Ian Younghusband will tell you .. 

Ian Younghusband 

I’m a full-time wheelchair user following an accident 25 years ago racing motocross, in which I broke my neck, becoming paralysed from the shoulders down.

I took up stand-up comedy just over a year ago. I’ve always been a joker and friends and family have always said I should have a go, until eventually I thought ‘why not?’ After all these years I’ve finally found something that replaces the buzz I got from racing and as a bonus, it’s a lot safer, even taking into account the potential of dying on your arse! 

My comedy career has been going really well and I’ve been pleased to get some extremely positive reviews, but at the same time, it’s one of the most frustrating things I’ve ever been involved in. 

I hadn’t considered just how hard it would be to get the opportunity to perform, mainly due to the lack of accessible venues and on occasion, a promoter’s belief that I’d be unable to handle an audience known for hecklers.

 Opportunities to be ‘seen’ are much less, especially when new act competitions – although open to all – are often held at inaccessible venues, so naturally it can be difficult to progress. 

It would be great if promoters shared access details when advertising for acts. If your gig is up or down stairs with no lift, then say so. Offer a brief description or even a photo of a ground floor gig. For example if a venue has one step, no accessible toilet and one or two steps onto the stage, I could manage with a couple of people to lift me, but Sam couldn’t with his power chair. It would save disabled comics applying for gigs they will never get and also let them decide if, with assistance, it could work for them. 

Its important to encourage more people with disabilities into comedy, not only so they can experience how great this can be, but also so that comedy fans as a whole can get to see more diverse acts, which can only be  good for comedy. 

Understandably, many venues could never be made accessible, both for physical and economic reasons, but some could apply for Arts Council or lottery funding grants to improve access. When I returned to my original career, post injury, in local authority architecture, I made a lot of County Durham’s public buildings accessible. 

What can be changed easily – and is shocking that it isn’t – is prioritising access needs when choosing venues for new act competitions, awards and networking events, otherwise disabled comics aren’t given the same opportunities to progress. 

It’s a Catch 22. If you aren’t seen you can’t move up, so you’re stuck doing small gigs with access problems. Promoters lucky enough to have an accessible venue, could reserve a slot for someone with a disability and advertise in the Disabled Comedians Network or through  Access More Areas. 

Either that or we will start competing by setting up our own gigs. Sam Judd has very successfully done that in Bradford ... 

Sam Judd

I am a full-time wheelchair user following a brain stem stroke I had when I was four years old. As a result I have limited use of my limbs and I speak through an electronic communication aid called a Liberator which I access via a silver spot on my glasses. 

I started stand-up, or as I like to call it, sit down comedy, in 2018. I was a university student at the time and my friend told me to have a go, so I had a go. No lifelong dream which I suddenly realised. 

As any comedian will tell you it can be taxing, revealing yourself emotionally to a room full of strangers night after night. If you have to worry about things like access on top of that, it can be even more strenuous. I have been in situations where I have turned up to gigs and I couldn’t get on the stage. Therefore I had to do my set beside the stage, hoping people at the back could see me. 

I arrived at one gig to find the venue was stepped entry. It shouldn’t be our job to check for accessibility if we have been booked for a gig. For physically disabled comedians those barriers can be rather offputting, particularly if you are starting out. 

That’s one of the reasons why I have set up the disabled-led comedy night, You Can Laugh, You Know so no one has to worry about accessibility. Hosted in an accessible venue in Bradford, the events are packed and the front row is taken up by wheelchairs. Through my research to set up  the night, I have found a plethora of buildings which would be accessible in some form but are not advertised as well as they could be. 

Because of the laws around listed buildings most accessible venues are more modern buildings. We need to champion them, use them and seek funds for access improvements. Even in regards to listed buildings, one would be surprised how adaptive people can be. I have been to buildings which aren’t traditionally accessible but they found ways of providing access to part of the building at least, through the fire exit for example. 

It usually isn’t the most glamorous and far from ideal, I admit, but it’s a start. There is advice and support available for promoters to creatively think about access. It will help their business as well. 

Some comedians with disabilities have a day job in the field of accessibility and we are willing to offer advice and support about creative ways to be more accessible. Access More Areas will be launched in September. If the comedy industry can get it right, it will only be good for the arts going forwards. 

•  Sam Judd and Ian Younghusband will be at the Rockwell Centre in Bradford on July 7 and The Heart Centre in Leeds on  September 29 with You Can Laugh, You Know.  Lizzy Lenco will be performing her show Full Frontal Lobe at the Edinburgh Fringe from August 20 to 27.

Published: 30 Jun 2023