COMEDY

The Comedy Store

The Comedy Store is a comedy club that was founded in 1979 by Don Ward in Gossips, a nightclub on Dean Street, Soho. Six years later the club moved to Leicester Square and in 1994 to Haymarket House, Oxendon Street, a venue that can seat 400 people. The mid-1990s comedy boom's roots lie in the Comedy Store.

Location: 1a Oxendon Street, SW1Y 4EE (blue, turquoise)

Website: www.thecomedystore.co.uk

Jongleurs

Maria Kempsinka was a teacher who ran drama workshops for teenagers. She noticed that their favourite format was old-time music hall. In 1982 she visited the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. She was impressed by the level of comedic talent that she saw performing. She appreciated that the existing London venues were unlikely to draw in the ordinary public and that there was scope for creating a form of club that would enable Alternative Comedy to crossover into the mainstream. As rival forms of entertainment the West End was too expensive, the subsidised theatre was contracting as a result of its state grants being reduced, while the music industry had turned its back on the Punk ethos. The following year she opened Jongleurs in Battersea.

In 1992 a second Jongleurs was opened in what had been the Dingwalls music venue in Camden Lock. The building was specially adapted to be a comedy venue. Other venues were opened subsequently.

Website: https://jongleurs.com

The Tunnel Club

The Tunnel Club was run by Malcolm Hardee a former petty criminal who had appreciated that his anti-social tendencies might be able to earn him a better living through comedy. He was renowned for becoming nude. In his personal life he had a tendency towards chaos.

With English-speaking comedians from outside the U.K. the club developed a reputation for being the toughest gig in the world. There was a real danger of a set-stopping put-down being delivered before the performer had even reached the mike. When Jim Tavar first performed at the venue, he had an act that centred upon a double bass. As he walked out there was a call of Oh look! There's a midget with a violin!

Following Hardee's death in 2005 the Club became a nightclub.

David Backhouse 2024