The Birmingham comedian had to undergo training and get a qualification to allow the venue to open for the short time window
The comedian said he hopes to “celebrate our British boozers” with his new live pub show.
Birmingham comedian Joe Lycett is hosting a new live TV show – from a pub which can open for just an hour a week.
The 38-year-old said he hoped to “celebrate our British boozers” in the six-part series The Lycett Arms, which will air on Channel 4.
The east London pub can only open for the duration of the episodes in the six-part series.
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Lycett said he loved his local in Kings Heath and wanted to highlight the threat to the industry: “The live performance sector, if you want to call it that, is under great threat, and the pub industry is as well.
“And I think anything we can do to celebrate our British boozers is a good thing because yes, they provide a watering hole and, as I’ve said, I do think they’re really good for society at large.
“It’s good to have a public house where the public can come in and mingle with one another.
“It’s good for people who are lonely. It’s good for people who need to connect with their community.”
For the show to go ahead, Lycett had to be fully accredited with a licence to serve alcohol and underwent a training course and exam to obtain a level 2 award for personal licence-holders.
In each episode, he will be accompanied by a celebrity pub manager on a trial shift and The Lycett Arms will be paired with a real pub elsewhere in the UK.
He said: “I moved to my area of Birmingham because I loved the local pub and I still do, and when I go in there, there’s always someone I kind of know and can sit and have a drink with.
“I think it’s been a place of great solace for me over the years, and I think pubs closing in places kills the local area.
“And so we definitely want to champion those amazing boozers around the country, and it’s a sort of a spiritual place for lots of people.”
The Lycett Arms airs live on Channel 4 on Friday nights at 10pm from September 4.
