Alternative comedy

Alternative comedy is a British comedy scene in the late 1970s and 1980s which would eventually go on to become mainstream in the 1990s and up to the present day.

It was formed around The Comedy Store and The Comic Strip clubs in London (later also Jongleurs as well as others). It provided a voice for anarchic young comedians who were opposed to the Thatcherite Tory government of the day. The comedy tended to rely not on racial or other stereotypes (which was the mainstay of The Comedians-style comics), or even standard jokes. Instead it used personal observation and intellectual humour, partly inspired by the early live work of comedians like Woody Allen and Tom Lehrer, as well as comedy from the British Satire Boom such as Beyond The Fringe. Spike Milligan and Peter Cook are seen by many as the grandfathers of alternative comedy.

Satire and current events also played a large part of the scene. Being a university graduate was de rigeur and the original Comedy Store host, Alexei Sayle, had been a univeristy lecturer.

Audiences at the comedy shows usually became part of the performance. Comedians were heckled and often their skill was measured not only on the quality of their jokes but on their ability to think up witty put-downs to silence the (usually drunk) hecklers. Jo Brand was particularly skilled at this and Ben Elton later would describe the rapid 'motormouth' style of his delivery as an attempt not to allow the heckler to get a word in!

Alternative comedy spilled onto TV in the 80s and was supported by minority channel BBC 2 in the form of The Young Ones and other sitcoms. Channel 4 also hosted Saturday Night Live (UK) (later Friday Night Live), which effectively provided a TV platfrm for all those appearing at the Comedy Store at the time. Channel 4 also commissioned most of The Comic Strip pastiches as a central part of the channel's early development.

Eventually 'alternative' comedy would become mainstream, with the likes of Absolutely Fabulous becoming prime-time BBC viewing. Traditional comedy, characterised by Bernard Manning and Frank Carson, would be relegated to the sidelines in live venues such as working mens' clubs. Nowadays traditional comedians appear on television only as curiosities in mockumentaries, or as game show hosts.

Comedians from the era include:

• Alexei Sayle
• Ben Elton
• Adrian Edmondson
• Rik Mayall
• Jennifer Saunders
• Dawn French
• Arnold Brown
• Julian Clary (aka The Joan Collins Fan Club)
• Ruby Wax
• Stephen Fry
• Hugh Laurie (who, along with comedy partner Stephen Fry would claim he "slept through" most of the alternative comedy revolution)
• Jo Brand
• Harry Enfield