Thank you! 🎉🙏

Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU to every single person that donated to the #HeckleTheVirus campaign since late March, as together we raised over £120k to keep comedians afloat whilst their live events and livelihoods were indefinitely postponed during a worldwide pandemic.

Your donations have gone on to help hundreds of comics who need it most - and we are indefinitely humbled at the levels of kindness and generosity.

As our contribution to the industry, we split all NextUp Comedy membership fees 50/50, so that the comics benefit from being a part of the NextUp community. Come and join us today!

Check out our membership options here...

❤️🧡💛💚💙💜🖤

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The primary source of income for every comedian in the UK has been stripped away due to the impact of the Coronavirus - shutting down venues and cancelling live events. If you value live comedy as much as we do at NextUp and respect the performers who dedicate their lives to bringing us laughter - let’s band together and #hecklethevirus.

#hecklethevirus

This is one of the many #hecklethevirus initiatives setup by NextUp to help support and utilise live comedy during Coronovirus. We’ll also be streaming special gigs and doing everything in our power to help keep the circuit going and bring live comedy to the masses when people need it the most. Keep an eye on hecklethevirus.com to stay up to date.

How it Works

It’s simple, every Friday - we’ll allocate a portion of the money raised to the comedians who need it most. If you’re a comedian - fill out this form to apply. The more money we raise - the more comedians’ livelihoods we can support during this challenging time. Each month we will update the project page with anonymised data on how many comedians were supported and to what degree. 100% of the funds raised will go to comedians in need.

Check out our #HeckleTheVirus fundraising FAQs right here.

Why Pledge?

The Government has advised the cancellation of live events, alongside the promotion of social distancing to combat the spread of COVID-19. Whilst this is incredibly important to limit the impact of the virus, it has had a huge and immediate impact on those whose main source of income was live events. NextUp are trying to find ways to still bring live comedy to people who are isolated in their homes, whilst also trying to help comics survive the inevitable hardship.

Live comedy is worth around £500m+ to the UK economy every year. As funding takes a huge hit with the cancellation of live events and social gatherings, it’s fundamental that we support comedy performers throughout the country so they can afford to live during this difficult time.

Who are ‘NextUp’?

Our mission is to amplify the power of live comedy, allowing its laughter and underlying messages to reach more people than ever before, all whilst supporting the artists and the wider community in as many ways as possible. Find out more at nextupcomedy.com