COVID spares comedian’s funny bone
North Idahoan in London thinking of home
During these trying times the coronavirus has inflicted on the world, a good laugh can help ease daily burdens.
But finding the funny in the midst of a global pandemic isn’t easy, no matter where you are.
“I wasn’t hoarding anything, and was never worried we’d run out of food,” said David Fulton from his home in England. “We live close to Richmond Park, which is thousands of acres of fully enclosed park land and has two herds of deer roaming freely in it. Being from Idaho, I just figured if things got desperate I’d just wander into the park, pick a deer and with my Buck knife we’d be eating for weeks.”
Fulton graduated from Coeur d’Alene High School in 1979. Following his dream of comedy took him on the road, where he spent almost 10 years touring the United States and western Canada. For the last 22 years, the stand-up has called London home.
He said when he began exhibiting symptoms of the virus two weeks ago — and his son the week after — he realized that something was wrong.
He believes he had the coronavirus.
“This virus isn’t the flu,” he said. “I’ve had the flu and this ain’t it. It’s worse. Fortunately, we both recovered, but we still have a bit of what my dad used to call a graveyard cough.”
He said he has no idea where he may have picked the virus up, if he did have it, and blames no one.
“People in North Idaho need to understand that it could come from anywhere, and they need to practice smart social distancing even when they think they’re safe,” he said. “If not for their own health but for the health of those around them, even the ones they don’t care about.”
For the moment, however, Fulton and his family are trying to remain healthy.
“I’ve had friends of friends succumb to COVID,” he said, “but no one I know directly, yet. My mother-in-law is 94 and has [chronic obstructive pulmonary disease]. We’ve pretty much nailed her door shut for the next six weeks. She’s not happy, but that just might be because she’s Welsh and living in England.”
Fulton, whose stand-up act for mature audiences only resembles that of a fish-out-of-water malcontent, is part of a gig economy that all but requires crowds. Efforts to reduce the spread of COVID-19 have left his funny-but-non-essential industry in limbo.
“All my gigs have been put on hold ‘til at least mid-May, and for some clubs, they’re not going to open again ‘til mid-July,” Fulton said. “It is what it is, and I’ll survive. I have some savings that’ll carry me through, and obviously I don’t have to worry about losing my health care.”
Fulton said a universal health care system helped him and is something America should consider.
“It must be said that one of the really big things I appreciate about living in the UK is the National Health Service,” he said.
While Fulton joked about his experiences, he said he often wonders what comedy will look like after the coronavirus subsides.
“One of my last gigs was in Oslo, Norway, [on] the 10th of March, and I was doing jokes about [the coronavirus] then. They loved it, because like the Brits they have a sense of humor about most things. I’ve seen a lot of comics trying to do shows in their living room to no one and it makes me cringe. I’ll never do that. Ever.”
Even if the crowds are slow to come back, Fulton said he takes comfort in the Coeur d’Alene he left behind, a home he said he misses and still visits as often as he can.
“I’m often asked if I’d ever move back stateside,” he reflected. “If I had the money, and I’d need plenty, I’d split my time between the two places. London for the culture and exposure to history and the arts, and Idaho for the national forest and indulging in a Hudson’s Hamburger once (or twice) a week.”
