Slowly but Surely, Stand-up is Coming Back
Uncertainty has been an underlying theme in just about every statement made by prominent stand-up comedians since the COVID-19 lockdown began in March. Live performances as a whole in all facets of entertainment have halted to a standstill, and most seem to plan on remaining stagnant, at least for the remainder of 2020. Stand-up, however, seems to be making strides towards finding a way back, and with the general negativity and emotional weight of the current news cycle, a return may be more valuable now than ever.
The first attempts at a return occurred in the form of free shows held over Zoom, which were unanimously deemed awkward failures by fans and performers alike, resulting in most high-status performers making the choice to ignore them altogether, and focus more on developing their podcasts or youtube channels, which saw huge audience gains as a result of the pandemic.
Now, several prominent comedians have decided to make attempts at returning to in-person performances. Some of these performances are simply socially distanced versions of traditional stand-up comedy sets, and comedians like Bill Burr, Joe Rogan, and Whitney Cummings have all gone to cities with limited restrictions, such as Houston, to perform for live audiences. Other comedians, like Dave Chappelle, have opted to perform outdoors for lager audiences in parks and private venues. Perhaps the most interesting method of performance appearing all across the country by stand-up acts is the utilization of drive-in movie theatres as stand-up venues. Comedians like Bert Kreisher and Andrew Santino have both raved about this method. With the audience staying in their cars for the performance, distancing guidelines are essentially impossible to violate, and though the end of show ovation now comes in the form of a swarm of honking horns, the performers say that they can hear the audience’s response to their material, and that such performances have provided not only a great outlet for the performers, but a warm and welcoming atmosphere for the audience as well.
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