‘Lowkey Outside Comedy’ Producers Matt Rife & Paul Elia On Bringing Live Stand-Up Back To Los Angeles: “Comedy Will Find A Way”
Matt Grobar Assistant Editor, AwardslineSince early March, when COVID-19 was declared a global pandemic, and businesses across the United States started to shutter, live comedy — like all kinds of live performance — has been virtually nonexistent. In trying times marked by a deadly pandemic, extreme political division and general unease, the coronavirus-related shutdown has left people without the much-needed levity and communal experience that stand-up comedy provides.The Los Angeles comedy scene’s best-known venues, including the famed Comedy Store, have been unable to open, impatiently awaiting the moment when crowds will be able to return to their seats indoors.