Thread by @katiepritchards

Yesterday I asked for top tips to make my comedy shows more accessible, so here’s a little thread with the great advice I’ve received. It doesn’t take much to make your show more accessible, just a bit of awareness and some simple action. Let me know if you have any more tips xx

1/ Does your venue have step free access into the building & inside the building to the performance space & toilets? If there are stairs, is a lift option available? If you can’t use an accessible venue, make sure to include this on the venue info including how many stairs it is.

2/ Make sure your venue has accessible and disabled toilets. Thank you to @sazzymills for this tip! If disabled toilets are not available, clearly mark this on the venue info, and maybe eye up a different venue which is more accessible for your next show.

3/ Is your venue designed for wheelchair users & for people with walking aids in mind - are the aisles wide enough for access, & can seats be taken out for wheelchair users? Is there enough distance between rows? Can you re-arrange chairs to be as accommodating as possible?

4/ Can you use captions or subtitles during your show? I’ll be creating videos with my song lyrics on, for example. Would something like this work for you, too? Can you use an automatic captioner to transcribe what you’re saying? Or hire a live captioner to transcribe the show?

5/ I’ve been using these captions on my Twitch streams, and they’ve been great! Perhaps there’s a way to do this in a live show too and project it onto a screen for everyone - that way it’s going at the same pace as you are with your excellent joke telling

6/ Are the toilets gendered, or are there gender neutral toilets? It’s always worth requesting that a gender neutral toilet can be made available. I’d like to hope that venues would be more than happy to accommodate this. You can then let your ticket holders know in advance!

7/ Does your show involve props and costumes? If so, can you run a touch tour before your show, so that people can experience your props & costumes up close? Lots of arts festivals will let you choose this as an option on their registration forms. Thank you to Sonia for this tip!

8/ Can you audio-describe your show? I’m hoping to build this into & make it part of my show. This may not work for all shows though, but perhaps you can look into getting your show audio described. This makes your show more accessible for anyone with a visual impairment.

Thank you so @SophieBurkeSax & Sonia for the audio description tip!!

9/ Quiplash provide audio description training for live theatre and cabaret shows. So give them a little look up and see if they’re right for you. Recommended by Sonia (thank you)

10/ Have you considered making the space more accessible for those who are neurodiverse? This could include having the house lights on and dimmed so there’s more visibility in the seating area, making the volume a little lower, creating a quiet zone that people can go to if…

…they’re overstimulated, putting up signs front of house if your show will use any flashing lights / haze / loud noises so that people are as prepared as possible for what will happen visually & aurally as well as making sure that people aren’t in an anxiety inducing situation…

…making sure there are quick and clear exit routes for anyone that may need to leave swiftly and so that people feel comfortable to move around if needs be, allowing people to specify which seats they would like so that they are in a seat they feel comfortable in…

…giving people the option (not forcing) to sit on the front row with clear parameters of what their interaction with you will be (if any) so that people can prepare or move to another row if they would feel more comfortable…

…We all know we’re not going to be mean to our audience, but we also all understand the front row can be a bit scary sometimes!

Thank you to @lisannefridsma for many of these suggestions!

11/ Create an open dialogue with your audience when they book so they can let you know if they have any specific requirements that you could implement to help them have the best time at your show. For me, just pop me a tweet or an email and I’ll try and sort it out for you. Xx

12/ Hire a sign language interpreter to interpret your show. Important when booking an interpreter: make sure they’re somewhere that can be seen by at least the majority (ideally all) of the audience & that they are well lit! Don’t put them in a dark corner! Please!!

13/ Here’s a great article by @PinguicVerse for @funnywomen funnywomen.com/2020/05/20/sta…

14/ Can you live stream your live show from the venue? This is a great way to have the best of both worlds - an accessible show in the venue & live streamed out for those who might not otherwise be able to attend. A lot of venues now have streaming capabilities. Let’s use them!

15/ Adopt a mic position that would make it easier for people to lip read. Make sure you’re well lit with no shadows on your face and mouth, and ask if anyone who will be lip reading needs to move to where they can see you better.

I bet I’ve missed loads of stuff, so do send me any more tips you can think of / things you would love at a live comedy gig! Thank you to everyone for your recommendations that you all sent me! Loads of love xxx #LetsMakeComedyAccessibleToAll

I also found these fab articles about making ‘relaxed performances’ the norm: amh.ac.uk/blog/april-blo…

disabilityartsinternational.org/resources/a-re…

Unroll @threadreaderapp

I would like to apologise for my use of language when I said “It doesn’t take much…” I didn’t mean for it to sound flippant or disrespectful! Thank you to people for messaging me to let me know so that I can apologise, learn, & grow from my mistakes x

A better phrasing of what I wrote in my first tweet would be…

Many of the tips should be fairly easy to implement, you will need to be aware of accessibility options when booking your venues & directing your shows, but if we all actioned as many of these as possible it would mean comedy & the arts would be way more accessible to everyone. X