For comedians, offstage activities can help the career too.

We all need a bit of escapism from life's tribulations, particularly in this weirdest of years. Whether you're working or not working right now, or studying, remotely or otherwise, or just sitting tight and seeing what happens, it's good to have a laugh along the way. Now we're not saying that comedians are key workers here, but they certainly do provide a valuable service in times of strife. But how do your professional humourists blow off steam?

The problem for comedians is that watching other funny people is a bit too loaded to be enjoyable, a lot of the time. Getting home from a small socially-distanced gig, switching on the TV and watching an act whose career may appear to be going better than yours is hardly a relaxing experience. No, you need something else entirely.

There are other things you can do of course. Many comedians are into playing poker with their contemporaries, which is a popular way to take the mickey and talk shop outside of a work setting. And there's always online gambling to keep their hands in, checking out the new no deposit casino action, happy in the knowledge that at least they didn't have to put a deposit on an Edinburgh flat this year, with no Edinburgh Fringe happening.

Games generally are a big part off many comedians' offstage lives. Some invent new ones among themselves and end up playing them in front of their audiences, which is a win-win; others are obsessed by professional games played by others. Sports, in other words, which can be surprisingly beneficial, career-wise.

Football is obviously the big one here, and although talking about footy on stage is famously a bit of a no-no in the unwritten rules of stand-up, having that knowledge plus the gift of the gab can be a winning combination. Comics like Matt Forde and Charlie Baker have gotten regular radio jobs due to their offstage fandom. Supporting teams like Torquay United (Baker) or Nottingham Forest (Forde) may seemingly cause more pain than gain, but it's relatable for lots of fellow sufferers.

For non-sporty types, certain hobbies have had to take a back seat this year - pottering around bookshops, for instance, has been a bit off and on as non-essential shops have shut, opened and then shut again. Still, being stuck at home isn't nearly as boring as it could be. Thankfully we're in an age where most of us can find and watch most films or TV shows ever made somewhere online, so there's something for everyone.

Imagine if 2020's restrictions had happened about 30 years earlier though, during the rental-shop era. You'd usually just gamble on what Blockbuster Video had in stock, but for much of this year that shop would be shut, so you'd be stuck with whatever was on terrestrial TV, and whatever films you owned already. That copy of Martin Scorsese's Casino you taped off the telly might lose its lustre when you've watched it for the fifth time that week.

Still, comedy types could probably turn that experience into a very niche, Casino-related podcast - when podcasts eventually get invented about 20 years later. Perhaps this was the prime time to have a lock-in after all.