Now that the World Health Organisation has declared COVID-19 a global pandemic, those of us who work in live comedy (quite literally a gig economy) are understandably concerned about not working and loss of income.
If you are entering into a period of self-isolation, you might want to focus on the creative positives that come with self-imposed alone time to help you through any Corona-virus blues. Don’t rest upon your toilet paper horde, instead put your sanitised hands to work. No, not like that.
Write
Plenty of us have ideas in our heads that have been kicking around for months that somehow haven’t made it into our notebook. Now is the time to sit down and write down those jokes, that script, novel outline, podcast pitch or article idea. Seeing as you can’t take your new jokes to an open mic night, consider workshopping them on Twitter or other social media sites.
Research
Of course, it’s no good to have a notebook full of good material kicking around doing nothing. Consider this a good time to find out what you can do with this burst of creativity. Googling publishers, podcast studios and other places you’d like to see your work will be a great way to expand your contacts.
The BBC Writersroom offers a wealth of advice regarding what to do with scripts, you can also check out our Tricks of the Trade section and at Funny Women we’re currently looking for new writers via our newsletter (subscribe below), we release a new theme every month and invite people to send in their pitches for selection.
Diversify
In this online world, there are plenty of ways to keep in touch, develop new contacts and make money. If you have had to cancel a pitch meeting, run a workshop or conduct a one on one coaching session that you would have been paid for, consider going ahead using Skype or other video conferencing apps. This allows you to keep your appointments and even encourage you to cast your net wider by reaching out to people outside of your city or even country. You might also consider paywall options for blogs, newsletters or podcasts.
Most importantly, we want you to stay safe and take advantage of the support the Funny Women community can provide. We’re available on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn so do get in contact. Plus we’ve got an archive of brilliant articles here for inspiration and guidance.
