{"id":35845,"date":"2021-04-29T12:06:47","date_gmt":"2021-04-29T11:06:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.shefnews.co.uk\/?p=35845"},"modified":"2021-04-29T12:06:47","modified_gmt":"2021-04-29T11:06:47","slug":"toby-foster-backs-fundraiser-to-save-struggling-comedians","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/shefnews.co.uk\/index.php\/2021\/04\/29\/toby-foster-backs-fundraiser-to-save-struggling-comedians\/","title":{"rendered":"Toby Foster backs fundraiser to save struggling comedians"},"content":{"rendered":"

Toby Foster has given his support to a fund that aims to prevent comedians from being cut adrift from the industry during the pandemic.<\/span><\/p>\n

The comedian and BBC Sheffield radio presenter, 51, has backed the #SaveLiveComedy<\/a> Fund \u2013 which is currently sits at \u00a350,000 in donations and plans to give out grants to people in the industry.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

This comes after a recent survey by the Live Comedy Association (LCA) found that 50% of the industry have considered leaving comedy because of the pandemic.<\/span><\/p>\n

Toby, who is the promoter for the Last Laugh Comedy Club in the city centre, said: \u201cThis fund is needed because you have a lot of comedians in dire straits. We\u2019ve not done a gig for 14 months, no business can shut for 14 months.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWorking class comedians have always struggled. I don\u2019t want to blame Jimmy Carr for being Jimmy Carr, but without a shadow of a doubt if you\u2019ve got a trust fund or a wealthy dad you can go up and do the Edinburgh Festival as a gap year.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe arts are totally and utterly appreciated. We\u2019re the ones you turn to when you\u2019ve got nothing to do.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The Last Laugh Comedy Club opens back up on 28 May \u2013 with capacity down to a third of what it was pre-pandemic \u2013 and Toby added that he won\u2019t change his fees for comedians, even if it means he won\u2019t make any money.<\/span><\/p>\n

The LCA, who are supporting the fund, was set up last year in the face of the pandemic to fight for people in the industry and previously secured \u00a35.7 million for comedy organisations as apart of the government\u2019s Cultural Recovery Fund.<\/span><\/p>\n

Owen Donovan, 28, of the LCA, said:\u201d The big stand-out question across this whole period has been support for individuals, and we know that most comics around the country are self-employed.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe government\u2019s support scheme, for the various flaws in the system, hasn\u2019t really supported people as much as they needed to.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe reason to support people in the industry is just as strong as ever as people are going to be out of work or working for reduced fees for quite a long time.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The association\u2019s survey found that 60% of comics have made less than 5% of their pre-pandemic income from online comedy.<\/span><\/p>\n

NextUp Comedy, who started the fundraiser, have said the \u00a3500 grants will be targeted towards those who are most in need, focusing on those who are self-employed, unemployed, or who run an organisation that has been ineligible for any existing government support.<\/span><\/p>\n

Donate to the #SaveLiveComedy Fund <\/span><\/i>here<\/span><\/i><\/a>.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Comedian Toby Foster has backed an emergency fund to prevent comedians being cut adrift as a result of the pandemic.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":147,"featured_media":35882,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[43,16,85],"tags":[525,10,527],"class_list":["post-35845","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-culture","category-top-stories","category-top-story-2","tag-comedy","tag-covid-19","tag-fund"],"yoast_head":"\nToby Foster backs fundraiser to save struggling comedians - ShefNews<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/shefnews.co.uk\/index.php\/2021\/04\/29\/toby-foster-backs-fundraiser-to-save-struggling-comedians\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Toby Foster backs fundraiser to save struggling comedians - 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