Our collections

We are lucky to have worked with some amazing comedians, performers, promoters, producers, and academics working in stand-up comedy and associated art forms.

We do not aim to be simply acquisitive – our purpose is to work with depositors to enable current and future researchers of stand-up comedy good access to archival materials that document aspects such as performance itself, but also the planning and writing of shows and tours, audiences, and venues. Please contact us (standup@kent.ac.uk) if you would be interested in depositing or loaning material.

You can search the collections in details via the online catalogue at http://archive.kent.ac.uk.

The British Stand-Up Comedy Archive currently includes the following collections:

  • Tony Allen Collection: a small collection of audio-visual material, including audio recordings from the Comedy Store
  • Attila the Stockbroker Archive: includes Attila’s written notes, press coverage, publicity and promotional material for performance poetry and music gigs, fanzines and zines, and his manifesto for election as Student President whilst at the University of Kent in 1978
  • Monika Bobinska Collection: records documenting the Meccano Club, a comedy club in north London at which many well-known comedians performed early in their careers
  • British Stand-Up Comedy Archive Events Collection: audio and video recordings of events held by the British Stand-Up Comedy Archive at the University of Kent and Edinburgh Festival Fringe
  • Arnold Brown Collection: contains material relating to Arnold Brown’s career in alternative comedy and stand-up comedy, from the 1980s to the present
  • Buddy Hell Collection: contains material relating to Buddy Hell’s (Ray Campbell) career as a stand-up comedian, initially in the alternative cabaret circuit, as well as the Cabaret A-Go-Go club in Newcastle in the 1980s
  • Ivor Dembina Collection: contains material relating to Ivor Dembina’s career in stand-up comedy, as a comedian and as a promoter of comedy acts and comedy clubs
  • Oliver Double Collection: recordings of interviews with comedians, of Oliver Double compering at the Last Laugh Comedy Club, Sheffield, and of the first year of the University of Kent’s Eliot Comedy Club (later called Monkeyshine Comedy Club)
  • Tiernan Douieb Collection: material collected and created by Tiernan Douieb for his comedy club ‘Fat Tuesdays’ (including line-ups, email newsletters, photographs), and material related to his own stand-up comedy career as a solo performer
  • Funny Women Collection: material primarily related to the Funny Women Awards, including entrance forms, judging forms, audiovisual recordings, press coverage, as well as promotional material
  • Peter Grahame Collection: material documenting ‘Downstairs at the Kings Head’ comedy club, plus comedy magazines
  • Jeremy Hardy Collection: contains audiovisual recordings, primarily VHS and audio cassette, of live stand-up comedy performance and appearances on radio and television
  • Richard Herring Collection: contains material related to Richard Herring’s career performing theatre and comedy, including scripts, promotional material, published work, and notes
  • Josie Long Collection: material collected and created by Josie Long for her stand-up comedy shows, including promotional material, set lists/stage notes and spider diagrams, stage props, and audience suggestions/contributions
  • John Pidgeon Collection: a vast collection of audio-visual material, including original recordings from interviews on his BBC Radio 2 show
  • Alexei Sayle Collection: Alexei Sayle’s scripts for TV, radio and film productions
  • Linda Smith Collection: donated by her partner, Warren Lakin, this collection contains material spanning Linda’s entire career
  • Andy de la Tour Collection: contains material relating to Andy de la Tour’s career in alternative comedy/stand-up comedy, as well as that of the Alternative Cabaret collective
  • Mark Thomas Collection: donated by Mark himself, this collection consists of a range of materials from recordings and posters to props

The British Stand-Up Comedy Archive also contains a number of smaller collections deposited by comedy clubs and comedians.