We’ve just set-up a soundcloud account for the British Stand-Up Comedy Archive, where we’ll be posting extracts from our in-conversation events, the annual Linda Smith Lecture, and also extracts from archival material. You can find us under the profile Stand-Up Comedy Archive.
Category Archives: Events
Richard Herring in conversation with Olly Double
Matt Hoss, third year University of Kent Drama and Classics student, kindly reviews our first British Stand-Up Comedy Archive in conversation event:
On 8 April the Gulbenkian welcomed Richard Herring as he took part in the first interview of the University of Kent’s British Stand-Up Comedy Archive in-conversation events. Through laughter and cringe-worthy anecdotes, Herring signified why he is the one of the most influential comedians in the UK.
Richard Herring in the Gulbenkian Theatre in conversation with Olly Double.
Resident Doctor of Comedy, Oliver Double, humorously hosted the interview with Herring, showing a promising return to form despite his recent accident. The interview was relaxed, enjoyably paced and strikingly down-to-earth as Herring reveled in the details of his childhood and his working life, illustrating how much he has achieved. The discussion focused on Herring’s innovative work within the varied platforms of comedy, like his famed Sketch-show Fist of Fun, his thematic stand-up shows which dub him as the “King of Edinburgh” and his podcast series (which the cool kids call RHLSTP).
Nick Hiley (Head of Special Collections), Olly Double (Head of Drama) and Richard Herring
Herring contemplated upon his successes and failures through a certain chronology; starting with the early days of his radio comedy, through to the marathon run of his summer stand-up shows. He shined a light on the inner secrets of Stand-Up comedy, giving a glimpse into the nuts and bolts of the industry and how he formulates comedy, which accumulates to an endearing evening.
An audio recording of the event is available to subscribers of Richard’s RHLSTP podcast via Go Faster Stripe, and we will soon make some short extracts available via this blog.
Politics and Humour Conference
Tory Gillespie writes:
Nick Hiley and Olly Double at the launch of the British Stand-Up Comedy Archive.
Exciting news! The official launch of the British Stand-Up Comedy Archive took place on Friday 16th January 2015, as part of the Politics and Humour conference held at the University of Kent. What an appropriate setting in which to launch a collection that houses so much fantastic work from politically-minded comedians such as Linda Smith and Mark Thomas. The Glorious Launch (which was really just us saying interesting things and having a few drinks, but we did have fun) was held at the Gulbenkian Theatre, who have been incredibly supportive to this new venture. The conference itself was a star-studded affair, in academic terms. Keynote speaker Dr Sharon Lockyer (Brunel) shared her research on disability and stand-up comedy and our internationally-renowned guest speakers, including Kent’s own Dr Oliver Double, shared interesting and diverse research from the broad field of comedy. In the evening we were entertained by two of the most prominant new political comedians – Grainne Maguire (The Now Show, Stewart Lee’s Comedy Vehicle) and Liam Williams (Russell Howard’s Good News) – who we hope at some point in the future will donate some materials to the archive.
The rest of the conference was highly entertaining, with topics ranging from satirical political organisations in Northern Ireland to the practice of evil clowning. It was a great weekend and a fantastic way to launch the British Stand-Up Comedy Archive.
Alexei Sayle in conversation
Our first ‘in conversation’ event for the British Stand-Up Comedy Archive is taking place on Saturday 7 February at 07:30pm. Stand-up comedian, actor and author Alexei Sayle will be taking to Olly Double about his career and the art of stand-up comedy. Tickets can be booked via the Gulbenkian box office. The series of ‘in conversation’ events will be recorded and added to the British Stand-Up Comedy Archive.
