'The magic machine has become unmagic' | Minor glitch as 24-hour science, comedy and variety show raises £22k

'The magic machine has become unmagic'

Minor glitch as 24-hour science, comedy and variety show raises £22k

comedyIt’s the gig that features the finest scientific brains alongside comedians and musicians.

But even that wasn’t enough to stop the 24-hour Nine Lessons And Carols For Socially Distanced People falling offline for about 40 minutes overnight.

The internet at King Place, the London venue from which the marathon was streamed, went down around 2.20am, only to be restored just before 3am in time for a link to Australian comedians Shaun Micallef and Colin Lane.

And for all the show’s focus on science and rationalism, when the link went down host and organiser Robin Ince could only say on Facebook: ‘The magic machine that broadcasts our show has become unmagic.’

The interruption was a minor blip in a packed, marathon show that has raised almost £22,000 to be shared between Mind, Doctors Without Borders, Turn2Us and the Kings Place Music Foundation. Donate here.

Highlights of the 24-hour show, which started at midday on Saturday, included 

Stewart as Santa

Published: 13 Dec 2020

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.