Laugh to Keep the Lights On
‘Sunday Assembly London is a community space that provides inclusive, thought-provoking bi-monthly events where we have speakers from all walks of life,’ says Andrew Mullan excitedly, eager to talk about what Sunday Assembly is, writes Michael Holland.
Andrew is the spokesperson for the group that ‘started life as a passing thought by two comedians in a carpool on the way to a gig in Bath.’ It is a group that has now become one that he has chats with almost every day.
Their events could be talks on diverse subjects ranging from ice-cream to science, with a live band that plays songs to fit in with that month’s topic, and which could entice the audience to get up and dance. ‘Speaking from experience,’ begins Andrew, ‘It is incredibly rewarding.’ A guest poet paired with the main talk will also share some verses.
Sunday Assembly’s key tenets are: ‘Live Better. Help Often. Wonder More’. Their gatherings offer people the opportunity to ‘get more from life without the caveat of a forced ideology attached’.
Andrew is very open about himself while speaking for the group. He talks honestly about the initial ‘am I ready to meet new people’ phase, before ’Getting out of the way of your own self-judgment and second-hand embarrassment, and really letting go and having fun.’
He calls himself a ‘neurodivergent, reformed ex-jaded-ironic-hipster’ and admits, ‘I like to be my silly, authentically me version of myself with people who feel the same way.’
What he is saying touches on the self-judging, neurodivergent shy boy within me, and I begin to see why Sunday Assembly has people hooked.
It is almost entirely made up of volunteers who come together to plan and prepare each event, which could be sharing a literary experience over a drink in the Lyttleton Theatre bar once a month or at the regular Sunday Assembly in the Backyard Comedy Club in Bethnal Green. Other social gatherings like escape rooms and film nights are also arranged.
But there is a special event that harks back to its founding members’ lives in comedy, and that is a night of comedy to raise funds for Sunday Assembly. Five comedians, all giving their time and craft for free, and on a Thursday instead of a Sunday.
James Ross, who runs the Chortle Award-winning Quantum Leopard, will host Laugh to Keep the Lights On. Four comedians on one night of laughter: the ‘winningly weird’ Alex Franklin, ‘bawdy and brassy’ Jamie Mykaela, Ben Pope who went from the Footlights to the Fringe, and one of my favourites, Mark Thomas, whose anarchic activism always raises a smile.
I asked Andrew for any last words, and he had some great ones: ‘As the world feels to be evermore consumed by division and isolation, the more the voice reminding us that humans are a sociable beast becomes an unwavering certainty. I say listen to that voice!
Check out Sunday Assembly: https://sundayassembly.com/
COLAB Theatre, 22 Southwark Bridge Road, London SE1 9HB. Thursday 10th April from 7:30pm to 10pm (doors open at 7:30pm; show starts at 8pm). Admission: £15, £10.
Booking: https://sundayassembly.com/news/laugh-to-keep-the-lights-on/
