Supporting the live comedy community.
The Live Comedy Association has launched a fundraising campaign to support acts, promoters and others affected by the non-payment of money following Leicester Comedy Festival 2026.
About the fund
A temporary information page explaining the background to the hardship fund, who it is intended to support and who is managing it.
The Live Comedy Association (LCA) has launched a fundraising campaign to support acts, promoters and other people affected by the non-payment of money from Big Difference Company, the producers of Leicester Comedy Festival. The initial target is £30,000 and the process for people to apply for support will be announced shortly. This fund follows the £5,000 which was distributed by the LCA last month.
Following Leicester Comedy Festival 2026, the producers of the festival (registered charity Big Difference Company) announced they were unable to pay comedians and promoters ticket money from shows. To date, the majority of ticket monies have not been sent to acts or promoters and on July 21st Big Difference Company submitted a serious incident report to the Charity Commission over its ongoing financial issues. On 5th August Big Difference Company announced they have ceased trading.
All the funds raised will go directly towards assisting those individuals and promoters, venues and staff, helping to alleviate some of the financial burden they are currently experiencing. All claims will be verified and the LCA will make payments within one month of the application deadline.
“One of the issues is we don’t know how many people are affected by the situation but we estimate it is potentially hundreds of comedians, and dozens of promoters and venues. The vast majority are freelancers or sole traders who can’t afford to just lose their money and not receive anything. In our world there is no safety net or official support for people who don’t get paid money due to them. We hope the national live comedy community will be able to support people affected by the situation.”
About the LCA
The Hardship Fund is being managed independently by the Live Comedy Association.
The Live Comedy Association is a not-for-profit Community Interest Company formed in 2020, supported by a board of Directors and an Advisory Panel made up of people working in the industry. Members include comedians, comedy clubs, promoters, venues, festivals and other people who rely on live comedy.
Disclaimer
This website has been created solely to provide information about the Hardship Fund for individuals affected by the administration of the business.
The Hardship Fund is managed by the Live Comedy Association. This website is independent and is not owned, operated, endorsed, or authorised by the former owners, directors, management, or administrators of the business. It has no affiliation with, or authority to act on behalf of, any of those parties.