Eddie Izzard
‘Eddie Izzard was pretty much always a crowd puller. He performed in women’s clothing for the first time at the Tuesday night new material gig at the Market Tavern, Islington. He famously said that he wouldn’t do television!’
Thank god for alternative comedy. Without the daring actions of a few comics in the 1980s the circuit might still be full of gruff-voiced comedians telling racially-dubious jokes, and my job probably wouldn’t exist.
It’s a real treat, then, that N1’s Canal gallery is hosting ‘Alt Cab or Where Did It Go Wrong?’; an exhibition of photos, flyers, posters and film footage from the alternative comedy circuit in the 1980s and ’90s. The exhibition aims to explore how alternative comedy has changed, in terms of politics, creativity and popularity. It runs from February 13 to March 14, and the gallery’s also hosting some live comedy events across the run (details here).
We asked the exhibition’s co-curator and Canal’s director Monika Bobinska – who promoted much-loved comedy club the Meccano Club from 1886-1995 – to pick a few of her favourite pictures from her’s and co-curator Dec Munro’s alt-comedy archive.
