“In the first part of lockdown I was just in financial freefall and I ended up going online and putting myself forward as a maths tutor because it was the only thing I could think of to do,” Smurthwaite says.

As well as on-stage comedians, support services such as venue staff, bartenders, sound technicians, festival organisers, and others, are affected.

“Those folks are responsible for comedy happening and they were hit hard by this – it’s horrible,” says Caleb Hearon, a Los Angeles-based comedian and writer.

Some comedians have received financial support from their governments, but this has only plugged a small gap – more worrying is the fact that post-pandemic, they may not have performance venues.