£45,000 help for the Live Comedy Association

The Live Comedy Association has been awarded £45,000 of Arts Council England funding to support a series of events – boosting its campaign to get the sector recognised as an essential part of the creative industries.

Funding will support the next Live Comedy Day, due to be held on April 1, 2027, and the next UK Live Comedy Sector Report. It will also pay for work to champion live comedy to regional mayors and a series of free membership events for comedians and others working in live comedy across the UK.

Arts Council England has previously been criticised within the industry for not recognising comedy as a distinctive art form, making it difficult to get funding for stand-up projects.

Jessica Toomey, director of the Live Comedy Association, said: ‘We are thrilled with this funding. This programme will directly support people working in the live comedy sector and our aim is for it to make a massive difference to the world we all work in. This project helps us get to the next stage of our work and we can’t wait to get started.’

The LCA will run the programme over ten months with partner organisations including Soho Theatre and the Night Time Industries Association.

Published: 5 Oct 2026