Proposal put to MPs to curb abuse and harassment

Anyone who wants to put on a comedy show should have to get a licence from the government, it was suggested to MPs today.

Lu Jackson of campaigning comedy industry body Craft said the move would root out bad practice among smaller promoters, especially how they treat female comedians.

Speaking to the women and equalities committee in Parliament, Jackson said: ‘I'd like to see the government implement possibly a licence to be a booker, and that's actually not something I thought about when I asked for this misogyny inquiry.’

She suggested licences should be cheap and obtained via a simple form on the government website, in which would-be promoters had to answer questions about their responsibilities. 

‘I think a licence would be good and just make sure it's very accessible, like maybe 10 quid to apply, like very low level,’ she told the politicians.

Jessica Toomey, managing director of Manchester’s Frog & Bucket comedy club and joint chair of the Live Comedy Association, spoke about the problems women on the open-mic circuit face

She echoed what her colleague at the venue, Aimee Perry, told the preceding session of the committee this afternoon, about bigger clubs having HR processes in place, which smaller ones don’t.

Toomey said: ‘The other issue about comedy is there has to be this almost bottom-of-the-pool circuit where it's pubs with rooms above, where you've got the promoters who are a bit naive and don't have these policies.

‘Most promoters at that level are men who aren't getting booked [as comedians] because for some reason or not, people don't want to work with them. And then they're the ones who decide to set up their own gig.  At that level, it's a gig for your mates. So it's men booking all the gigs.

‘If there's more women booking gigs… you get that [gender] diversity. There's not enough women becoming promoters running gigs, even at entry level. And there's some way, it's an industry, where we could train them, encourage them, fund them and encourage more and more women to set up gigs and book those gigs. That's where the real, true change will happen, I think.’

Lynne Parker of Funny Women said stories remained rife of repeated misconduct from male promoters and comedians.

She said: ‘I’m still shocked at how many times I've heard the same stories about certain people in the industry who've abused or  asked for sexual favours, for gigs. 

‘All these things do go on, but the women concerned are usually too frightened to say anything. The comedy world… is quite amateurish and there is the lack of control and it's a very Wild West environment, [so] the perpetrators can get away with it. Without the organisations to support women coming forward, that is why I think these people repeat offend.’

Toomey added that ending such patterns of behaviour ‘had to come from a cultural change’ – and that she had seen encouraging signs of that happening. 

'Not just in comedy, but in society, until men start calling it out and men start correcting the behaviour, do we see real change? 

‘I've seen a big growth in the last year of that.  I'll see male comics who are quite quick to call out other male comics. Sometimes it feels like virtue-signalling a little bit  But I am seeing, I think, just more awareness of it and more understanding. 

‘People learning that it's actually a legal obligation to follow these procedures.  I am seeing a shift of men getting on board with it more and policing it, which helps.’

Kirsten Muat of performers’ union Equity said low pay in the industry contributed to abuse.

She told the MPs: ‘We recently did a survey of performers in London's nightlife economy. So that's looking at self-employed gig workers, of which comedians are a big group, and 98 per cent  of them said that pay hadn't kept up with the cost of living. 

‘When you have a group of workers who are low-paid and precarious, it does become more difficult and more daunting to challenge poor behaviour. And that's probably the single biggest barrier that underlies all the other barriers women face. 

‘If there was better job security, if there was more work available, if that work was better paid, then they would feel more able to challenge that poor behaviour because they're less reliant on  that one gig.’

About 600 comedians are Equity members, which she said typically meant about one in three stand-ups on a pro gig belong to the union. It costs £16 a month by direct debit and includes public liability insurance.

Jackson agreed with Muat, saying that almost 75 per cent of respondents to a Craft survey thought that ‘underinvestment in the comedy industry increases vulnerability to misogyny, harassment and unsafe working conditions’.

She called for official recognition of comedy as an art form, saying: ‘If you see the words "music, theatre and sport" in a report that's come to you as an MP or a peer, if you see a consultation happening and the words "music, theatre and sport" are there, please try and add comedy to that. Please include us. Because if that's not happening at the top, if comedy is invisible there…’

She believes such recognition could help unlock government funding, pointing out that this month the Creative Foundation Fund allocated £96 million to 74 arts and cultural venues – none of them comedy-only spaces.

‘I think comedy is like a square peg going into a round hole of the creative industries,’ she said. ‘People expect it to behave like music or behave like theatre when actually it's a very different thing and it's marketed differently to them as well.’

She pointed out that the Creative Industries Independent Standards Authority exists to uphold and improve standards of behaviour across the wider sector, including tackling bullying and harassment – and that it is launching a free confidential whistleblowing reporting service this summer that anyone in the creative industries will be able to call.

Those giving evidence to the committee also highlighted the difficulties of encouraging women of colour into comedy.  Toomey said: ‘I don't know what it is… We’ve put together schemes, we've gone out to comics, offered mentoring, free comedy courses, we've put together all these packages  – we can't reach them.’

Another issue cited was the problems faced by up-and-coming female comedians taking career breaks to have children – subsisting on ‘incredibly low’ maternity allowances (£194.32 a week for up to 39 weeks), having to go back and prove themselves after taking time away from the circuit, and the inability to take last-minute bookings once they are working again, as childcare cannot be organised at short notice.

However, Muat said: ‘I would say that probably the biggest policy change that would support women comedians would be the rights that workers get under the Employment Rights Bill being extended to self-employed performers, including women comedians, in particular the requirement for a venue and employer to take all steps to prevent sexual harassment. 

'That's not something that self-employed people are currently entitled to and it's something which would make a massive impact to them.’

Read our report on this afternoon’s earlier session here.

Published: 28 Apr 2026