Welsh stand-ups explain how the Cardiff comedy scene has survived the pandemic.
LOCKDOWN may have closed all the live venues across Cardiff, but these local stand-up comedians haven’t let it stop them laughing.
Comedian Vix Leyton, 36 from Cardiff, is a relative newcomer. But she has already carved a name for herself bringing local comedians online during lockdown.
“As soon as online gigs started to appear, I volunteered to do them,” she said.
“Then I came up with Comedy Roulette, a live stream on Twitch and an effort for me to host something that fit what I enjoyed doing and thought I was most funny at, which is adlibbing and being quick with sass.”
This soon turned into Comedy Arcade – a regular podcast featuring some of the best local comedy talent from the Cardiff stand-up scene.
But it wasn’t quite so easy when the pandemic first kicked off.
“I had just done my hundredth gig and was celebrating my first year in comedy the week before lockdown,” said Vix.
“No one had any idea what was ahead of them. Gigs were pulled but rescheduled initially. I had been gigging four or five times a week and had been accepted for my first Edinburgh Fringe run. I was still optimistic it would go ahead as the alternative was unfathomable.”
But switching to online performing created some unexpected opportunities.
“Even those new to comedy could get to more people, and more quickly, if they were clever.”
The first few months of the coronavirus pandemic saw the likes of Kiri Pritchard-Mclean start the Covid Arms comedy stream. And that inspired others to take up the call.
“I reluctantly did two online gigs in the first lockdown,” said Esyllt Sears, 40 from Cardiff.
“They just seemed so alien and not what I enjoy about performing. I love speaking to audiences but online, it’s very hard to do. But I was fortunate to become a regular panellist on the YouTube panel show Who Said That? and on Vix’s Comedy Arcade podcast and they’ve kept me going.”
Esyllt has performed sets for BBC Radio 4 Extra and S4C and has written for The Now Show, The News Quiz, Elis James’ Welsh sketch show and BBC Radio Wales’ Welcome Strangers.
But she was planning her debut show for the Machynlleth Comedy Festival when lockdown happened.
“First lockdown, everyone was in the same boat,” she said.
“No-one had any gigs. And I think we were just taking it a week at a time, but as time went on, it became clear that opportunities did need to be created – for acts to write and perform. This latest lockdown, Robin Morgan and I have started a fortnightly online new material night and that’s been a lot of fun, and gives acts a reason to write new material again.”
Robin Morgan, 31 from Cardiff, had been working at the Glee Club for a few years when he began his own stand-up career back in 2010.
Since then, he’s done three shows at the Edinburgh Fringe, two UK tours and a variety of writing work for the likes of The Mash Report, 8 Out of 10 Cats, and Mock the Week among others.
“My last gig pre-pandemic was March 14,” he said.
“I had three in London that night, and it really felt like it was the last days of Rome – crazy atmosphere, everyone was really up for it, I think because we knew that we were getting locked down afterwards. And then I lost all my work – probably three gigs a week up until August, quite a substantial chunk, financially, and eventually the Edinburgh Festival being cancelled was a hit too.”
But the affect of the pandemic was more than just financial.
“I think it made me realise how much I missed performing, and how much I defined myself as a comedian,” he said.
“I tried to say yes to everything – I did loads of online gigs, did some bizarre writing jobs on a freelance website, just tried to keep ticking over financially, and started a podcast which was good for a while as it gave me a bit of purpose. I definitely wasn’t writing much stand-up material at that point though – I felt creatively void for a long time, that only reappeared in the Autumn when I was doing more real-life and outdoor gigs.”
Eventually, Robin settled into the new virtual way of things and has since appeared alongside Esyllt and Vix on the latest episode of Comedy Arcade.
“I did every online gig that was offered to me – the first few were very odd, it was before audience members were in the Zoom call, so you just performed to your webcam, no idea whether you were getting any laughs. But I really enjoy Zoom gigs, especially hosting them. I think there’s an argument for them sticking around in some form when things go back to normal.”
But it seems most comedians are keen to get back to a live audience.
“I managed to put on some live gigs – socially distanced – in between lockdowns, including one in a Marquee in St Mellons over Bank Holiday weekend,” said Vix. “There was a real homecoming feeling for all the comics on the bill to be back on stage in front of an audience.”
“When things opened up the end of last summer, I started an outdoor gig at Bloc Coffee in Cardiff,” said Esyllt. “As soon as we’re allowed, we’ll be back to holding those events again.”
“Comedy in Cardiff will be fine,” said Robin. “The talent that the Welsh scene has at the moment is incredibly exciting, and I don’t think anything can stop this next crop of talent from making waves.
In the meantime, Comedy Arcade goes from strength to strength, making its way into the Top 100 comedy podcasts on the Apple charts in its first week.
“The response to it has been unreal,” said VIx.
“I wouldn’t be doing any of the podcast stuff if the world was normal, and I probably would have done a fairly mediocre Fringe show.”
