[3] The phrase has had different connotations in different contexts: in the UK, it was used to describe content that was an "alternative" to the mainstream stand-up of the day which took place in working men's clubs, and was characterised by unoriginal gags often containing elements of sexism and racism.
It was a reaction against the mainstream stand-up of the day which took place in working men's clubs, and was characterised by unoriginal gags often containing elements of sexism and racism.
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.
[15] As these newer comics grew in confidence, Tony Allen and Alexei Sayle founded Alternative Cabaret,[16] 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.
[21] Their tours established the idea of running comedy shows in small venues around London, and sowed the seeds of the network of pub-based gigs that grew in the capital and across the UK throughout the 1980s.
[22] Other organisations, comics, and entrepreneurs—including Maria Kempinska's Jongleurs and Roland and Clare Muldoon's CAST/New Variety—added more regular venues, bringing the number of gigs per week from 24 in 1983 to 69 by 1987.
[24] The Comic Strip, featuring double acts and sketch comedy, consisted of Manchester University and Royal Central School graduates Ade Edmondson, Rik Mayall, Nigel Planer, Dawn French, and Jennifer Saunders, who began to aim their talents at television.
Ben Elton, who had by then become the Comedy Store's next MC, was invited by Rik Mayall to join him as co-writer of BBC2's TV hit sitcom The Young Ones.
[tone] There he influenced the early careers of Vic Reeves and Bob Mortimer, Simon Day, Chris Lynam, Martin Soan, Harry Enfield, and many others to whom he gave their first gigs.
[10] Just about every major British stand-up comedian in the last thirty years started their career in alternative comedy clubs, including Ben Elton, Jo Brand, Jack Dee, Lee Evans, Eddie Izzard, Harry Hill, Peter Kay, Jimmy Carr, and Ross Noble.
The now-defunct Luna Lounge in New York's Lower East Side was home to a celebrated weekly alternative comedy stand-up series called "Eating It" from 1995 to 2005, co-created by Garofalo, which featured a changing line-up including Louis CK, Jim Norton, Ted Alexandro, Todd Barry, H. Jon Benjamin, Greg Giraldo, Patrice O'Neal, Patton Oswalt, Sarah Vowell, Mike Birbiglia, Marc Maron, Dave Chappelle, Roseanne Barr, Sarah Silverman, Janeane Garofalo, and numerous others, until the property was sold and the building razed.
[33] Other notable alternative comedy shows now defunct included Pirate Video Cabaret (ended 2003), Laugh Sabbath and The Second City Theater Toronto's Sketchy at Best.
Other notable alt acts include Terry Clement, Sean Cullen, Jon Dore, Paul Irving, Chris Locke, Levi Macdougall, Ron Sparks and Harland Williams.
During the Apartheid era, Miller's material was considered "inappropriate" or radical, resulting in more than one run-in and detention with the South African Bureau of State Security.