{"id":2974,"date":"2017-11-13T14:31:33","date_gmt":"2017-11-13T14:31:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/specialcollections\/?p=2974"},"modified":"2017-11-13T14:31:33","modified_gmt":"2017-11-13T14:31:33","slug":"martin-stiles-comedy-collection","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/specialcollections\/2017\/11\/13\/martin-stiles-comedy-collection\/","title":{"rendered":"Martin Stiles Comedy Collection"},"content":{"rendered":"

Jon Shepherd, Assistant Archivist, writes about a new collection to the British Stand-Up Comedy Archive, the Martin Stiles Comedy Collection<\/a>:<\/span><\/p>\n

Alternative<\/span> comedy: a style of comedy that rejects established stereotypes (especially racist or sexist) and often containing a political component.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

In the 1970s traditional club comedians of the time often relied on jokes targeting women and minorities. A dislike of this led a group of performers at London’s Comedy Store to begin to pioneer an approach in opposition to the mainstream of British comedy.\u00a0 It eschewed a reliance on a standardised structure of a sequence of jokes and punchlines, tending instead to be somewhat more free-form.\u00a0 What resulted was more akin to comedy’s answer to punk.<\/p>\n

Martin Stiles was and no doubt still is a keen fan of comedy.\u00a0 He spent many years as a devoted follower of live stand-up, and both radio and tv comedy shows.\u00a0 This led him to do two things.\u00a0 Firstly, he created a detailed comedy index of comedians, producers and writers.\u00a0 For each he listed the individual\u2019s tv and radio comedy credits, often including the relevant year of transmission for each.\u00a0 Secondly, he assembled a wonderfully impressive collection of comedy scrapbooks.\u00a0 Stiles attended as a member of the audience the recording at the Paris Studio in Lower Regent Street, London of a vast array of comedy shows.\u00a0 This he did several times a month, sometimes several times a week!\u00a0 Each scrapbook includes newspaper cuttings, many from the Radio and TV Times, tickets for the shows and flyers sent out by the ticket unit to promote the recordings of the shows.\u00a0 Some of these items are autographed by the performers featured.\u00a0 The shows involved include many famous programmes such as Red Dwarf<\/span>, The Mary Whitehouse Experience<\/span>, Whose Line is it Anyway<\/span>, I’m Sorry I Haven’t A Clue<\/span> and Knowing Me Knowing You…With Alan Partridge<\/span>.\u00a0 Many were pilots and by necessity includes some shows which didn\u2019t make it beyond the pilot stage.<\/p>\n

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Martin Stiles comedy scrapbooks<\/p><\/div>\n

\nThis methodically assembled collection reads like a who\u2019s who not just of British comedy from this delightful period of change but also more generally of British cinema, theatre and public life then and now.\u00a0 Casual fans and aficionados of the following performers may be interested in the collection; Stephen Fry, Rowan Atkinson, Robbie Coltrane, French and Saunders, Tony Robinson , Emma Thompson, Kenneth Branagh, Hugh Laurie, Lenny Henry, Ben Elton, Harry Enfield, Harry Hill, Paul Merton, Rory Bremner, Adrian Edmonson, Rik Mayle, Nigel Planer, Jonathan Ross, Tim Brooke-Taylor, Bill Oddie, John Cleese, Alexei Sayle, Jack Dee, Victoria Wood, Julie Walters, Mel Smith, Griff Rhys Jones, Ruby Wax, Tracey Ullman, Mark Steel, Jasper Carrott, Floella Benjamin, Humphrey Lyttleton, Clive Anderson, Robert Llewellyn, Craig Charles, Chris Barrie, Graeme Garden, Roy Hudd, June Whitfield, Leslie Phillips, Shane Richie, Jim Broadbent, Andrew Sachs, Vic Reeves and Bob Mortimer, Peter Capaldi, Eddie Izzard, Geoffrey Perkins, Rupert Graves, Patricia Routledge, Michael Palin, Terry Jones, Eric Idle, Frank Skinner, David Jason, Sandi Toksvig, Ronnie Barker, Douglas Adam, Bob Geldof, Kenneth Williams, Wendy Richard, Martin Clunes, Danny Baker, Ulrika Jonsson, Morecambe and Wise, Meera Sya, Frankie Howerd, Les Dawson, Noddy Holder and many, many\u00a0 more\u2026<\/p>\n

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Items from the Martin Stiles Comedy Collection<\/p><\/div>\n

If you fancy delving back into the fascinating world of comedy of the late 80s and early 90s then please contact us on specialcollections@kent.ac.uk<\/span><\/a> or +44 (0)1227 82 3127.<\/p>\n

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Martin Stiles Comedy Card index<\/p><\/div>\n