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National Maritime MuseumSara Pascoe, Rich Hall and Aisling Bea warm to an excited crowd – and a divine heckler – in the chilly outdoors
‘Comedy isn’t essential?” asks Rich Hall, incredulously. “This isn’t essential?” After the government announced financial aid only for workers in “viable” jobs, comedians – like all performing artists – are smarting at their exclusion. How can this not be viable, argued Hall, from an outdoor stage in the gardens of the National Maritime Museum. And from the crowd at the Greenwich Comedy festival – in their socially-distanced hundreds, despite Baltic temperatures and a global pandemic – came ardent cheers of support.
After months largely without live performance, the Saturday-night bill was a tonic for performers and audience. For the acts, because they’d been stuck online since spring and craved the sound of applause – “I cheekily took a few claps from the NHS clapping by the end,” joked Aisling Bea. And for audiences because this was a bumper lineup, reacquainting them not just with live comedy but with high-end standup eager to speak about our extraordinary times. Continue reading...