Jack Dee (off the telly) was absolutely brilliant when he performed in Dubai the other week.

At this weird time of messed-up schools, kids getting quarantined for Covid in moral education class, and working remotely via zoom and other soulless electronic interfaces, it was so good to get out of the house and laugh, all evening.

From the getgo with his jokes about staying in the same Dubai hotel as Djokovic to reminding us about the apocalyptic things we USED to worry about (an Ice Age and nuclear war… I remember so well! The movie Threads, anyone?!), I loved every minute. What a relief to escape the misery of modern Covid/climate/cancel-culture obsessed times for a couple of hours.

As a dear friend put it: “Yes, I’ve been talking about the Cold War and CND (remember them?). OK, so the pandemic is seriously un-fun, but there will be a point in time when it’s over. We all got this.”

I must admit, though, that social distancing meant our seats got upgraded to a posh section we would never have spent the money on, making it extra-special. I’m now waiting for Only Fools and Horses – the musical to make it to Dubai.

Laughter is so important, and more relevant than ever.