In the late 1970s, the alternative comedy scene exploded into life in Britain and completely changed the style, subject matter and politics of British stand-up. Contemporary critics talked about it as ‘anti-matter comedy’ that ‘makes you laugh while actually rearranging large chunks of your brain’. This book draws on a wealth of archive material – including unpublished recordings of early performances – and new interviews with key figures such as Alexei Sayle, Andy de la Tour and Jim Barclay, to provide a detailed history of the early scene and an examination of the distinctive modes of performance style which developed. Beginning with its origins, the volume traces the influence of American stand-up, and in particular the significance of Mort Sahl and Lenny Bruce as the originators of a style of stand-up that influenced the British pioneers of alternative comedy. It shows how the opening of the Comedy Store in 1979 provided a catalyst for a new movement, which grew outward from there with the foundation of the group Alternative Cabaret and the opening of the Comic Strip. But it also looks at smaller venues and less celebrated acts that have not been as well remembered, including ranting poets and street performers. Finally, it looks at alternative comedy’s legacy, showing how it was the starting point for the UK’s thriving and varied live scene, which encompasses anything from small pub gigs to huge arena tours.
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Acknowledgements Introduction UK 1979 Part One History of early alternative comedy 1. Prehistory – influences and origins 2. The beginnings of alternative comedy 3. The spread of the circuit Part Two Alternative comedy performance 4. ‘Bits of me haven’t been finished yet’ – Reinventing stand-up from scratch 5. ‘Anti-matter comedy’ – Stylistic Innovation 6. ‘Advanced social thinkers’ – Persona and Perspective 7. ‘Comedy of direct confrontation’ – Relating to audiences 8. ‘I tell jokes which precipitate the downfall of capitalist society’ – Politics Part Three Legacy of alternative comedy 9. Alternative comedy now Notes References Index
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This fascinating, well-written and meticulously researched guide to Britain’s alternative comedy revolution is probably the most accurate single retrospective of that transformative time that exists … Double conveys the excitement of these times while telling the story as accurately and succinctly as any social historian can. This book comes highly recommended.
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Drawing on new interviews and a wealth of unpublished archive material, this book provides a detailed history of the early alternative cabaret scene and explains its significance in radically reinventing stand-up and sowing the seeds of today’s live comedy circuit.
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Provides a detailed historical account of the early alternative comedy scene and an analysis of its significance in reinventing British stand-up
The Bloomsbury series of Cultural Histories of Theatre and Performance recognizes that historical knowledge has always been contested and revised. Since the turn of the twenty first century, the transformation of conventional understandings of culture created through new political realities and communication technologies together with paradigm shifts in anthropology, psychology and other cognate fields have challenged established methodologies and ways of thinking about how we do history. The series embraces volumes that take on those challenges while enlarging notions of theatre and performance through the representation of the lived experience of past performance makers and spectators. The series aim is to be both inclusive and expansive, including studies on topics that range temporally and spatially, from the locally-specific to the intercultural and transnational.
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Produktdetaljer

ISBN
9781350052802
Publisert
2020-04-16
Utgiver
Vendor
Methuen Drama
Vekt
380 gr
Høyde
216 mm
Bredde
138 mm
Aldersnivå
P, 06
Språk
Product language
Engelsk
Format
Product format
Innbundet
Antall sider
240

Forfatter

Biographical note

Oliver Double is Reader in Drama at the University of Kent, UK. He is the author of Stand-Up! On Being a Comedian (Methuen, 1997), Getting the Joke: The Inner Workings of Stand-Up Comedy (Methuen, 2005; expanded 2nd edition Bloomsbury Methuen Drama, 2014) and Britain Had Talent: A History of Variety Theatre (2012), and co-editor with Adam Ainsworth and Louise Peacock of Popular Performance (Methuen Drama, 2017).