Geoff Norcott returns to stand-up with socially-distanced Worthing gig

There will be social distancing, of course. But the fact is…. it is happening.
Geoff NorcottGeoff Norcott
Geoff Norcott

Comedian Geoff Norcott’s rescheduled date will be at the Connaught Studio, Worthing on Thursday, October 15 as he takes to the road again with his unique brand of provocative stand-up. Geoff will be continuing with the success of his critically acclaimed show Taking Liberties and, as he says, he hasn’t had to update things too much. He’s just delighted to be back.

“I have done some car park gigs – and people were hooting their horns which used to mean ‘Get out of the way, you idiot!’ And I also did some online gigs which were fine, but really what you miss is the proximity, the sound of laughter. With the online stuff, you do get quite a good interaction, but with the car park gigs, you don’t get the sound of the laughter.

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“Doing outdoor gigs is something most comedians will have done before, but I did my first indoor gig again last Friday, and it was great. You just need something to stop the sound from escaping the room. Comedy really does benefit from having a ceiling. That’s one of the first things you sense. Laughter has got a pinball effect. You need it to be able to bounce around a bit, which is what a ceiling gives you.”

As for social distancing in the audience, as Geoff says: “With COVID you have just got to make the best of what is available, and if you are going to go out to a comedy gig still in a global pandemic, then clearly you are keen enough to be an audience member. Usually for comedy you would want people to be close together, all laughing, but I think the appetite for entertainment that people have now got will compensate for that. I think people are exhibiting resilience just by being there. It’s a show of faith.”

There was talk of audiences having to wear masks at one point. Geoff is relieved it hasn’t happened: “It would have been too weird. It would have been like they were at some psychedelic thing and were going to come after me afterwards!”

As for the pandemic, inevitably, it has to be acknowledged from the stage: “There is a lot of low-hanging fruit. You can talk about the new things in life, the fact that we are seeing young guys going to pay for their petrol and pulling their T-shirts up over the noses.

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“And also you can think about telling our grandchildren how we fought the pandemic: ‘Well, we used to have arrows on the floor and we would go to the toilet one way and then come back from another direction!’”

Adding to the comedy potential is the fact, as Geoff says, that culturally and politically things have been pretty febrile since lockdown.

“I don’t really feel I have been changed by the experience of it all, though. I feel like I should have been, but then, being 43, I think it is the younger people who will have the more definitive effect. I do think for them it could be really positive. For a long time people have been moaning about them being really risk-averse and the fact that they haven’t really had to go through anything or survive anything. But now they have…”

And the children too. Geoff’s son has just started school: “And it was noticeable that all the parents were freaked out at the gate, but the children were raring to go.”

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And one day they will look back: “Yes, my mum used to breast-feed me wearing a welder’s mask, and we used to have a swab test before going into the sand pit…”

Geoff has appeared frequently on Question Time and can be regularly seen putting the cat amongst the pigeons on UK political debate shows. You may have also heard him on his own Radio 4 comedy special or popping up on The Now Show. He’s written for shows ranging from Have I Got News For You and C4’s Alternative Election to Judge Romesh, Roast Battle and JFL’s Katherine Ryan Stand up show.

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• Talk is increasing of further lockdowns in the UK. What do you think of the situation? Join the Big Conversation and have your say on everything from healthcare to how the pandemic has affected you personally and how we make our communities stronger: https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/bc-worthing

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