Covid-free comedy show is here in a fortnight

Reginald D Hunter is headlining the Guernsey Festival of Covid-Safe Comedy on Tuesday 25 and Wednesday 26 May.

Support acts Laura Lexx, Scott Bennett and Phil Nichol come from the likes of TV shows Live at the Apollo, Mock the Week, and Never Mind The Buzzcocks.

Pre-registration for tickets is now open.

The announcement is a realisation of a long-standing ambition of festival co-organiser and island resident Darren Vogel, who has combined with Just The Tonic comedy club owner Darrell Martin to arrange the festival, sponsored by Polygon Collective.

Mr Vogel has wanted to stage a comedy show locally for weeks. He said that to get all four acts on a Guernsey stage would be brilliant.

‘Our thanks go to Polygon Collective – without them it wouldn’t happen.’

He said that other renowned artists were keen to perform locally in a Covid-free location, starting with Ed Byrne on 22 and 23 June.

‘The acts are excited to be the first European artists to be privileged to entertain non-socially distanced full-capacity audiences,’ Mr Vogel said.

He and Mr Martin are hoping that the experience will enable them to stage more shows in Guernsey while Britain emerges from lockdown.

Artists will be Covid tested before they travel and when they arrive in the island, and then they will isolate in a hotel until confirmed negative.

Mr Vogel said that several

‘technical solutions’ would be ‘soft trialled’ on this first visit ‘to further enhance and ensure Covid safety’.

‘These solutions can then be utilised in the future should the UK, or indeed Guernsey, experience a further lockdown that would again threaten the health of the population and the live entertainment industry.’

Mr Martin may encourage Edinburgh Festival Fringe acts to Guernsey should these inaugural comedy nights prove successful.

. Tickets go on sale on Monday, costing £28 each plus a booking fee. Visit: justthetonic.com/guernsey-comedy/ to pre-register.

‘There will be four very excited and rusty comedians’

ARRIVING in a Covid-free and restriction-free Guernsey will be like a dream, according to one of the four comics.

Throughout the pandemic, performing live to a full, unmasked audience without social distancing has been a rarity.

‘I think there will be four of the most excited comedians to ever be on stage, with a mix of rusty and excited,’ said Laura Lexx ahead of her visit to the island.

Performing in the pandemic has been ‘sort of like a doughnut really,’ with live showings only resuming in late summer before further cancellations.

‘I’m finding it a bit surreal. On stage, I imagine it will be a lot of us saying “this is nice isn’t it”.’

It will be her first visit to Guernsey, and she is keen to see the sights in downtime.

Travelling with Phil Nichol, Scott Bennett and Reginald D Hunter, she said it was a lovely, enthusiastic group.

‘It’s a really nice bunch of people with plenty of puff. I’m really looking forward to it.’