Alternative Rebellion: The Beginning Of Britain's Alternative Comedy Scene скачать в хорошем качестве

Alternative Rebellion: The Beginning Of Britain's Alternative Comedy Scene

The beginning of alternative comedy is commonly associated with the opening of the Comedy Store club in London on 19 May 1979, initially a weekly gong show-style comedy night in a room above a strip club in Soho. The official history of the club credits comedian and author Tony Allen with coining the term. However, the late Malcolm Hardee coined the term in his autobiography in 1978. Alternative comedy came to describe an approach to stand-up comedy that was neither racist nor sexist, defining itself against more traditional comedians playing the Northern working men's clubs who often relied on jokes targeting women and minorities in a form of comedy "civil war". (This divide was not absolute, with some performers from that circuit performing at the Comedy Store from its opening in May 1979.) What developed from these clashes was, in Arthur Smith's words, "comedy's version of punk". Alexei Sayle, the Comedy Store's first MC, provided angry character comedy satirising the left. Arnold Brown, an older stand-up comic noted for his quick-witted, observational style, was revered by several alternative comedians and would become a regular fixture at The Comedy Store. Fellow MC Tony Allen broke the taboos of personal and sexual politics, while Keith Allen confronted audiences in a fearless[tone] series of "put-ons" and was a big influence on the early cabaret scene that was about to emerge. As these newer comics grew in confidence, Tony Allen and Alexei Sayle founded Alternative Cabaret with other Comedy Store regulars. Their aim was to establish several alternative comedy clubs in London in addition to their flagship venue at the Elgin, Ladbroke Grove, from August 1979. Its core members were Jim Barclay, Andy De La Tour, and Pauline Melville, stand-ups who shared a background in radical fringe theatre. The pair also brought alternative stand-up to the Edinburgh Festival for the first time in August 1980 with "Late Night Alternative" at the Heriot-Watt Theatre. Returning with a full show in 1981, "Alternative Cabaret" was the critical comedy hit of that year.