So we thought we would raid our photo archives to remind you just how much the Sunderland area loves having a laugh – and we hope it will not be too long before we will all do so again.
5. Top of the form
GCSE results day at St Anthony's Catholic Academy, in Sunderland, in 2018. Photo: Stu Norton
6. Sam was the man
Sunderland manager Sam Allardyce celebrates after the club stayed in the Premier League in 2016. Now who was it who went down at the Black Cats' expense? Photo: Owen Humphreys
7. Birthday boy
Screen legend Mickey Rooney, second right, celebrates his 87th birthday in 2007 while playing Barron Hardup at Sunderland Empire's Cinderella pantomime. Photo: Sunderland Echo
8. Prom-tastic
Academy 360 pupils pictured at their prom at Ramside Hall, Durham, in 2014. Photo: Picture by Tom Collins