Thick & thin

A couple of London's longer-running comedy rooms closed recently. Nothing especially unusual about this as there's a natural rate of turnover in the industry.

A couple of the promoters (anyone who cajoles a pub landlord into giving over his upstairs room for comedy is a 'promoter') have mourned the passing of their nights on the Chortle website. There's a consistency in their moanings that has been picked up elsewhere.  Somehow London's comedy-going audiences are simultaneously too thin to be profitably shared amongst all the clubs and too thick to be relied upon to find their way to the 'quality' nights (i.e. the ones run by the writers).

As in Edinburgh, bizarre forebodings of a form of Gresham's Law prevail. The hand-wringing prediction that cheaper, low quality nights will somehow drive out the better gigs that pay their acts is pathetic. If you think so little of your audience before they enter the room what chance that they'll be treated well once the show starts?