COMEDY IN THE TIME OF COVID-19

"Boy, did we choose precisely the wrong time to return to the fray..." was our first thought the day the terms "social distancing" and "self-isolation" became part of the everyday lexicon of the global population. We could never have remotely foreseen the climate in which we would be launching the fifth series of the Nothing to Do with Anything Show when we commenced recording in the first week of October 2019, let alone when we started writing the scripts the previous June.

With the live entertainment circuits of most countries now closed indefinitely and many jobbing stand-ups lucky enough to have the technology and the know-how turning to the web to entertain an increasingly housebound audience ("captive" seems too harsh a word under the circumstances), as well as to help keep their material sharp and, if possible, bring in enough money to make ends meet, it might seem even crazier for us to go ahead with publishing the show at all right now. But God knows, 404 Funny's strap line has never been more apt, and we need a laugh now more than ever.

Sadly, sketch comedy, which has been plummeting down the funny food chain for some time, if we're brutally honest, is something you won't be seeing quite so much of over the coming months, for the simple reason that it's actually quite difficult for troupes to meet up and do their usual thing while remaining socially responsible and keeping the recommended two metres away from each other in a confined recording space.

If lockdowns occur, any interaction between performers is clearly going to be near-impossible - although you can bet your sweet bippy there are many creative people out there right now working on the logistics of streaming sketch or other multi-person comedy via online platforms. The thing is, though, no matter how good the material on offer may be, the frisson of energy between the performers will most definitely be lost - and that's always been part of The Joy of Sketch.

At best, a handful of maverick solo performers may be in a position to multi-voice their own recordings and produce some truly memorable content, but who's to say whether an appreciative audience during a time of crisis will feel the same way about that content once restrictions are finally lifted. It's the comedic equivalent of what politicians call "The Churchill Effect" (e.g. the general public not wanting those who helped them through troubled times to be the ones getting them through the tough times that inevitably follow).

So it's nice to be able to say, with a reasonable amount of confidence for once, that what you'll get from the forthcoming six episodes of the Nothing to Do with Anything Show will be quite different from most of the other new content you'll be seeing and hearing over what hopefully will be the next few weeks rather than months. It goes without saying that we'd find it humbling if you were to spend a few hours of that period listening to what we've been up to over the autumn and early winter.

As a precursor to the first episode of the new series being "dropped" (if you can't beat the kids, join 'em), British Comedy Guide has published an interview with John Dredge and the show's co-writer / producer Richard Cray which, we wish to reassure you, was conducted well within the current social distancing protocols.

Remember, the new series is exclusive to British Comedy Guide, so the quickest way to be the first on your block to hear each episode is to visit the show's page on their website. And what's more, it's free. We won't ever be asking you to pay for our content, nor will we be begging for donations or imploring you to GoFundUs or become a Patronizeon, or whatever. To be honest, we're not sure anything would be left in the stores for us to buy if we did come into a bit of money, so we're just making the best of what we already have and what's left in Sainsbury's right now.

We are still waiting on possible transmission dates for the radio versions of the new series, by the way. As we're sure you can appreciate, many radio stations are changing their priorities to reflect the current situation and serve their audiences in an appropriate manner. If we are unable to get them on air within the next couple of months, we have considered making them available via Mixcloud in the first instance, so watch this space.  We still hope they'll get an airing on a variety of stations later in the year, but for the time being why not stop by our Mixcloud page where you can hear all 14 hour-long radio versions of the show made between 2011 and 2015, some of which feature content not included in the podcast versions.

Also, keep 'em peeled to this blog for information on some added-value content that we'll be making available on the 404 Funny feed once the whole new series has been published. We've cut together a Making Of video, which was initially intended as a purely personal document but has since taken on another life, and we're putting together a Writers' Commentary, in which John and Richard reveal some of the secrets behind the show, its sketches and characters, talk about their influences and, on a couple of occasions, slag off the odd celebrity.

We've also approached our DJ friend Slim Fast Boy to create some of his Inessential Mixes from some of the cues we've used in our shows since 2011 with a view to putting those up on Mixcloud, where each track can be tagged. We're always being asked about this or that piece of music and we want to draw listeners' attention to locations where those tracks can be bought or downloaded, and making the title and artist info of cues available in one place will hopefully encourage you to seek out and purchase more of them. In fact, why not collect the set?

The only thing that remains is for us to wish you as much health, wealth and happiness that is possible at a time like this. We, like so many of you, have elderly relatives and immuno-compromised family and friends that we would like to hug right now but can't, for reasons that should be totally bleedin' obvious - and if they're not, you should really heed the late Kenny Rogers and check what condition your condition is in.

Wherever you are in the world, please be considerate to others and, if you're in the UK, stop gobbing on the pavement, wiping your unwashed hands on grab poles on public transport and overbuying groceries for your "rainy day" when, as if you hadn't noticed, it's absolutely pissing down for everyone. Given that many of us potentially have a lot to lose in the immediate future, it's vital that we don't lose our sense of perspective and common decency, while at the same time retaining our unique and cherished sense of humour.

"Betty, lock the doors! Right - no-one leaves t'Rovers until one of you owns up to pinchin' all t'Carex from t'flamin' bogs."