New fund for Northern working-class comedians | £50 grants for those who need kit

New fund for Northern working-class comedians

£50 grants for those who need kit

Comedian Red Redmond has set up a fund to help working-class comedians from the north of England make online content during lockdown.

The stand-up and drag queen has put £500 of his own savings into the scheme, which will make grants of up to £50 to allow applicants to buy kit such as microphones, video lights, webcams or tripods.

Another £100 has been added in donations and has recruited fellow comics Stephen Bailey, Lauren Pattison, Amy Gledhill and Rob Mulholland. as patrons.

He said he was lucky to have a job eligible for the government's furlough scheme, but wanted to help the self-employed comics who would not be able to access such financial help.

‘The comedy circuit is built on the careers of the self-employed,’ he said. ‘Without them there are no comedians, no comedy promoters, no sound engineers, no stage managers, no doormen. It is clear a large portion of our industry need support and urgently.

‘All of this is particularly true in the north of England where comedy remains a largely working-class pursuit.'

All applicants must be from the north of England, from a working-class background or struggling financially and have worked as a comedian before lockdown.

To apply, email red@deadcatcomedy.co.uk including links to previous work, your full comedy CV and details of what equipment you want and what you plan to do with it.

Published: 29 May 2020

Live comedy picks

We see you are using AdBlocker software. Chortle relies on advertisers to fund this website so it’s free for you, so we would ask that you disable it for this site. Our ads are non-intrusive and relevant. Help keep Chortle viable.