Alternative Comedy Now & Then

The University of Kent's Performance & Theatre Research Group staged this virtual research event on Zoom, on 2nd December 2020. In it, Sophie Quirk and Oliver Double talked informally about their current research into alternative comedy as it exists today and as it was back in the 1980s when it first sprang into existence. The conversation kicked off by looking at two historical artefacts from the British Stand-Up Comedy Archive, initiating a discussion about such issues as politics, stylistic innovation, representation and diversity. Along the way, we were hoping to challenge some of the myths and common misconceptions surrounding alternative comedy.
Sophie Quirk’s book The Politics of British Stand-Up Comedy: The New Alternative (Palgrave 2018) and Oliver Double’s book Alternative Comedy: 1979 and the Reinvention of British Stand-Up (Bloomsbury, 2020) were not for sale in the virtual lobby, but are available in all good online bookshops.