Monthly Archives: May 2017

Histcompod Episode 11 – ‘Pit Stop Tour 1985’

Episode 11 of ‘A History of Comedy in Several Objects’ is now available on iTunes and acast.

In this special guest episode we talk to Warren Lakin about Linda Smith’s life and her work, feminism in comedy and the Miners’ Strike of the 1980s, focusing on a flyer for the Cable Street Community Centre show as part of the 1985 ‘Pit Stop Tour’ run by Sheffield Popular Theatre, plus an exclusive interview clip with Mark Thomas.

Poster advertising the 1985 ‘Pit Stop Tour’ in support of the National Union of Mineworkers featuring Token Women and other acts (BSUCA/LS/3/1/1/3) (c) Stephen Houfe, Warren Lakin

Don’t forget to get involved! You can contact us via standup@kent.ac.uk or tweet us at @histcompod. You can search the online catalogue for more information about the holdings of  the British Stand-Up Comedy Archive at http://archive.kent.ac.uk.

Images of some objects featured on the podcast can be found on our flickr site in the ‘History of Comedy in Several Objects‘ album.

Histcompod Episode 10 – Captain JJ Waller’s Publicity shot

Episode 10 of ‘A History of Comedy in Several Objects’ is now available on iTunes and acast.

In this episode we look at at a range of evocative posters and photos from Captain JJ Waller, alongside an exclusive interview. In the course of doing so, we find out about the links between Covent Garden street theatre and alternative cabaret, and hear just how he managed to carry the weight of two London double decker buses on his chest.

Promotional flyer for Captain JJ Waller (front cover), with an image of JJ Waller, taglines ‘Oscar Winning Busker’ and ‘You too can have a body like mine…’

Don’t forget to get involved! You can contact us via standup@kent.ac.uk or tweet us at @histcompod. You can search the online catalogue for more information about the holdings of  the British Stand-Up Comedy Archive at http://archive.kent.ac.uk.

Images of some objects featured on the podcast can be found on our flickr site in the ‘History of Comedy in Several Objects‘ album.

Histcompod Episode 9 – Porky’s Red Wedge Cartoon

Episode 9 of ‘A History of Comedy in Several Objects’ is now available on iTunes and acast.

In this episode, we look at a programme (from the Linda Smith Collection) for the 1986 Red Wedge Comedy Tour, a run of pro-Labour performances featuring comedians such as Mark Miwurdz and Porky the Poet. The Red Wedge Comedy Tour emerged from the political initiative ‘Red Wedge’, a collective of performers, fronted by Billy Bragg and Paul Weller among others, who formed in 1985 and organised a number of major music tours in 1985, along with comedy tours in 1986 and 1987.

This episode also features an extract from an ‘in conversation’ event with Phill Jupitus from 2015, plus Olly and Elspeth’s dramatic reading of Porky’s strip cartoon from the Red Wedge Comedy Tour programme (see below!)

‘A Tale of Two Punters’ cartoon by Porky the Poet (c) Phill Jupitus

Apologies, we have a slight error to correct. In this episode I mention that the year is 1987, when in fact it was 1986. Many apologies!

Don’t forget to get involved! You can contact us via standup@kent.ac.uk or tweet us at @histcompod. You can search the online catalogue for more information about the holdings of  the British Stand-Up Comedy Archive at http://archive.kent.ac.uk.

Images of some objects featured on the podcast can be found on our flickr site in the ‘History of Comedy in Several Objects‘ album.