DID you have a laugh last night? If the answer to that question is yes, maybe you tuned into Saturday Night Live at The Stand, the lockdown lounge show that’s bringing comedy into the homes of viewers in Scotland and beyond.

The regular session was launched by the Scottish comedy club to give the public much-needed relief during the pandemic, and generate much-needed financial support while its venues are shut.

More than 220,000 people have tuned into the weekly streams on YouTube since the run began – enough people to fill The Stand’s intimate rooms in Edinburgh, Glasgow and Newcastle 275 times over.

Scottish stand-up stars like Frankie Boyle and Daniel Sloss, whose careers have gone international since their early shows on The Stand’s stages, have helped draw in a global audience, with people joining in from India, Australia, the US and all across Europe to watch the exclusive material.

John Oliver, host of US TV hit Last Week Tonight, has also taken part, as have Elaine C Smith, Janey Godley, Omid Djalili and Jo Caulfield.

Next week Phill Jupitus will be on the bill, with Scotland’s Mark Nelson returning for live compering duties.

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While watching costs nothing, audiences are encouraged to make donations if they can, with that cash split between paying the acts and keeping the business alive.

It sounds successful, and it is. But Anthony Dorman, The Stand’s marketing and promotions manager, says putting it together is anything but a giggle.

And the importance of the weekly session to the clubs’ future couldn’t be more serious.

Despite the ongoing closure, club bosses are topping up the wages of all furloughed staff, who are paid at least the real living wage, to 100% of their regular take-home pay.

But the business relies on its bar take to cover its overheads and is this year set to miss out on the peak period the Fringe normally brings.

Even when pubs and clubs are given the green light by government to reopen, it’s uncertain how this will affect the small premises The Stand occupies, where social distancing is not easily done.

So as well as its online “survival” fund, which is taking donations from supporters, the money given by viewers of the Saturday Night stream is crucial.

Dorman says he feels that pressure. “It’s a constant battle,” he says. “The support we’ve received has been generous, but it doesn’t plug the gap.

“We’re not a big profit-making machine and although some of the big names are doing it to support us and not taking a fee, we pay the other acts. This is not about just supporting ourselves, it’s about supporting the acts too.”

Other costs include the fees payable to the production companies that have helped bring the show to life.

That happened within just six days in the first instance, from the birth of the idea on a Monday morning to its delivery that weekend.

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“We knew it would work,” says Dorman, “but we didn’t think the support would be as strong as it has been. That first week, we were getting absolutely slammed on socials, getting messages saying ‘this is amazing, this is exactly what we need’. I was watching the figures going ‘this is crazy’.”

The run is scheduled to continue for at least five more weeks. However, that depends on demand – and returns. “Donations are keeping the shows going – without those, we couldn’t bring this to people on a Saturday night,” Dorman says. “People aren’t going to donate every week, although a couple have. We need to find ways to make sure new, fresh viewers watch the show.

“But this has proven that we need to do online shows for people who can’t get to the clubs for various reasons, whether that’s where they live or when they work or because they have a disability that makes it difficult for them to come out.”

To that end, bosses will launch their virtual club Stand on Demand this week, with the details to be announced in the coming days. However, musical comedy act Johnny and the Baptists has already worked with the club on its “virtual tour”, which was livestreamed earlier this week. Club bookers are working with “many other acts for exclusive content” too.

This morning, Dorman will be recovering from the 14-hour-odd shift it takes to pull off the Saturday show. He is, in his own words, “pretty burned out”. “There’s a lot of people doing what they can,” he goes on, “but it’s a long slog. For me, this has been like doing three Fringes in a row.

“This has been as much for us about staying visible and relevant as cheering people up,” he continues. “The world literally sucks right now, with a global pandemic and civil unrest. People need cheering up, even if it’s just to laugh about how bad things are.”

Saturday Night Live at the Stand starts at 8.30pm on the club’s YouTube channel and is available until 10am the following morning.

For more information or to donate, visit www.thestand.co.uk.