Unfortunately, we're unable to reopen Hitchin Mostly Comedy this month as we'd hoped, as we can't meet the current COVID-19 restrictions in a way that makes the event viable.
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| Our official stance (with legs widespread). |
Fortunately, Hitchin Town Hall is very keen to get us up-and-running again, as are we, but at the moment, too many problems stand in our way: the biggest being that the venue's current capacity is lower than our breaking-even point. While we're prepared to shoulder some losses just to get going again, it's just not practical if we can't cover our costs even when we're sold out. The event would also have to be run cabaret-style, with chairs & tables instead of rows to assist social distancing, but the smallest booking we could take is a party of six, which would limit interest immediately, which we can't afford when we're already on the backfoot.
The good news is we're already discussing ways to make it work as soon as we can, though the bad news is we probably won't start up until the New Year, which won't help my finances. We'll do some more live podcast interviews, which will be great but will only bring in minimal funds. And the fact we've only staged two gigs since January despite being two thirds through the year already is depressing too; the word 'unprecedented' gets tossed about a lot at the moment, but as far as live entertainment goes, it's true.
All we can do is hold firm and hope for the best. It helps that our venue is big and doesn't have fixed seating, so we've flexibility on our side. But this doesn't change the fact that Mostly Comedy provides my main income around acting, and at times like this, both jobs are fragile; looks like I'll be selling my bum on the street to make ends meet (no pun intended).