Attila the Stockbroker in-conversation

Errin Hussey, BSUCA Digitisation Assistant, writes:

Monday 19^th October brought a different kind of event to those already held by the British Stand-Up Comedy Archive, when punk poet legend Attila the Stockbroker returned to his former place of study to speak and perform to an enthusiastic audience.

Attila the Stockbroker in conversation with Oliver Double. Photo Elspeth Millar

The first half of the show was an ‘In Conversation with…’ style discussion with Dr Oliver Double. Attila the Stockbroker (John Baine) began the conversation by speaking fondly of his choice to attend the University of Kent, which was prompted by its left-wing activist reputation that was criticised in national right-wing press at the time. Attila continued on to describe his activities while at the University; his involvement with Rock Against Racism, organising gigs and running for Student Union President. The conversation soon turned to Attila’s first experiences of writing in his first punk band and how this led to becoming a solo poetry performer. In keeping with previous British Stand-Up Comedy Archive in-conversation events Oliver Double showed Attila images from the Archive of various shows he had played throughout his career. The discussion continued to explore Attila’s involvement in the ‘alternative cabaret’ scene, his contemporary poets and his current work before questions from the audience and a short interval.

Attila the Stockbroker performing at the Gulbenkian Cafe. Photo Elspeth Millar

The audience soon returned for a second half live set from Attila the Stockbroker which featured a combination of poems, songs and readings from his recently released autobiography ‘Arguments Yard’. He began with a poem called ’My Poetic Licence’ and continued with performances of ‘Asylum Seeking Daleks’, ‘Poppies Poem’ written about his late father, Never Too Late’ written about his stepfather and ‘Corbyn Supporters From Hell’. In addition Attila played a number of Mandola-accompanied songs ‘Comandante Joe’, a tribute to Joe Strummer, and ‘Prince Harry’s Knob’, inspired by his favourite novel ‘The Ragged-Trousered Philanthropists’. It was a pleasure to have Attila the Stockbroker for this event and to have a collection of his materials in the British Stand-Up Comedy Archive (reference BSUCA/AS). The event was audio recorded and has been added to the British Stand-Up Comedy Archive event collection.

Phill Jupitus in conversation with Oliver Double

Matt Hoss, University of Kent Stand Up Comedy MA student, reviews our third British Stand-Up Comedy Archive in-conversation event, Phill Jupitus in conversation with Oliver Double, which took place on Tuesday 29 September 2015 at the Templeman Library Lecture Theatre:

At the very start of the term, the British Stand-Up Comedy Archive immediately welcomes new and returning students with an uproarious and academic conversation with Phill Jupitus. The evening takes place in the new Templeman Library Lecture Theatre, where it is hosted by the engaging Doctor of Comedy, Oliver Double. However Double doesn’t particularly prompt Jupitus, as he sets his own tempo, as he himself unravels his early works. The audience eagerly follows his momentum as he details his transition from performance poetry, under the act Porky The Poet, through to Stand-up Comedy, as Jupitus discusses his most recent Edinburgh Fringe Shows*.

Phill Jupitus at the University of Kent, 29 September 2015. Photo Matt Wilson

Throughout the evening, Jupitus shares a mixture of thoughts and anecdotes from his encounters with other comedians and reflects on his vast and determined progression of how he turned into a full-time comedian. Jupitus gives plenty of insider tips to comedy, with mentions to improv groups and other ventured aspects of comedy. In particular Jupitus discussed how he developed his uniquely brilliant show, a comedic retelling of Star Wars: Episode 4 called Jedi, Steady, Go which he built the material from being the compere at the Comedy Store.

Jupitus’ passion for his politics is shown throughout the conversation. This begins tentatively with his humble beginnings working alongside Billy Bragg and Red Wedge, which sparked a somewhat raging commentary about the state of current affairs. But towards the end, when several audience members ask questions about politics in regards to comedy, Jupitus releases a whirlwind of left-wing notions and spitefully shouts about the lack of morality in current politics and television. He passionately yet angrily declares: “Education should be Free!” and to “LEARN!” and “SHARE!” creating a rapturous and unifying celebration shared by the audience.

Phill Jupitus talking about a Red Wedge Comedy leaflet which he cartooned for (as Porky the Poet). Photo Matt Wilson

Jupitus receives countless laughs and constant bursts of applause, leaving the audience spellbound with his comedic charm and his inspirational rhetoric. The Stand-Up Archive has another fantastic addition to its star-studded collection.

*Phill Jupitus: Sketch Comic, Impossible, and Phill Jupitus is Porky the Poet in Apologist Now!

Stand-Up Comedy Archive Collections Autumn update

I wanted to give an update on the collections that we’ve now received into the British Stand-Up Comedy Archive, nine months or so into our Beacon Project to catalogue, digitise, provide access to, and continue to build this archive for stand-up comedy in the UK. Our current collections include material from:

Alexei Sayle
Attila the Stockbroker
BSUCA Events
John Pidgeon
Linda Smith
Monika Bobinska
Mark Thomas
Nick Toczek
Oliver Double
Richard Herring
Robin Ince
Tony Allen
What The Frock! Comedy

Some of these we’ve written about before, so I wanted to provide some brief updates on the new collections.

The BSUCA (British Stand-Up Comedy Archive) Events Collection is being created through the events that we are holding ourselves, on campus, and at the 2015 Edinburgh Festival Fringe. We now have recordings of in-conversation events from Richard Herring, Stewart Lee, Mark Thomas, Stephen K. Amos, Jo Brand, Susan Calman, Alexei Sayle, and Nina Conti, recordings of Edinburgh Preview shows from Alfie Brown and Jimmy McGhie, and a recording of our inaugural Linda Smith Lecture, given by Mark Thomas.

Stewart Lee in conversation with Olly Double, 10 June 2015. Photo Matt Wilson

The Alexei Sayle Collection is one of our most recent deposits, and contains material from the career of alternative comedian Alexei Sayle, including scripts for various TV and radio programmes and films, including his own TV and radio shows (‘Alexei Sayle’s Stuff’, ‘The All New Alexei Sayle Show’, ‘Alexei Sayle’s Merry Go Round’, ‘Lenin and the Rovers’) and others he acted in (‘The Young Ones’, ‘Doctor Who’, ‘Whoops Apocalypse’).

Scripts deposited by Alexei Sayle

Material deposited by Robin Ince includes passes and badges for shows, tours and festivals in which Robin Ince performed, flyers and postcards for shows, zines made for Robin Ince’s Book Club and Edinburgh shows, performance notes for shows ‘Robin Ince Is As Dumb As You’ (2005) and ‘Robin Ince Knew This Would Happen’ (2007), and props (including Robin Ince and Josie Long puppets!)

Material received from Robin Ince

Our most recent deposit has been from What The Frock! Comedy, a Bristol-based comedy brand which champions female comedy talent. We’ve received a copy of ‘The What The Frock! Book of Funny Women’ (2015), flyers, badges and bookmarks.

Material received from What The Frock! Comedy

Nick Toczek deposited some wonderful flyers and leaflets from his alternative cabaret nights in Bradford, which he ran in the 1980s and 1990s. His collection comprises leaflets and flyers for the alternative cabaret and alternative comedy nights Stereo Graffiti, the Bradford Poetry Live Festival, Tumbling Hill Street Blues, Bradford Alternative Cabaret, Cracker!, and Korks Komedy Klub. Some of Nick’s flyers within the Linda Smith Collection can be viewed on our flickr account.

Flyers for alternative cabaret nights from Nick Toczek

Richard Herring did a wonderful ‘in conversation’ event with us back in March (some sound bites are available on our SoundCloud channel), and he deposited material from his career performing theatre and comedy since his time at the University of Oxford until the present. The Richard Herring Collection contains scripts for radio, television and plays; promotional material for stand-up comedy performances, plus published material by Richard Herring (including books and DVDs). The Collection includes original material on paper (scripts, reviews, tour flyers and brochures), published material (books, pamphlets, and a DVD), born-digital material (documents and files saved to 3.5″ floppy disks) and 179 tiff image files from Richard’s ‘Comedy and Drama in Oxford notebook’ (loaned to and scanned by the British Stand-Up Comedy Archive).

These collections are all being catalogued, and will shortly be discoverable via the University of Kent Library catalogues. But if you are interested to know more about the content of the collections, or to view and consult material please let us know via standup@kent.ac.uk. We’ve also got some really exciting new deposits and partnerships for the archive coming up this autumn so do check back in with us for more information!

British Stand-Up Comedy Archive autumn events

The ‘Talking Comedy’ events at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe (hosted with Lakin McCarthy) are happening NOW, but we’re also excited to announce some fantastic events coming up at the University of Kent over the next few months. First up, we will have Phill Jupitus in conversation with Oliver Double on Tuesday 29 September at 7:30pm. The event is free, so just turn up!

Following that we’re excited to have punk poet legend and University of Kent alumnus Attila the Stockbroker at the Gulbenkian Café on Monday 19 October in-conversation with Oliver Double. This will be followed by Attila performing poems and songs, plus readings from his new autobiography ‘Arguments Yard’. Tickets can be found on the gulb’s website.

Spotlight on: Attila the Stockbroker Archive

I’m very pleased to announce that we have a new collection within the British Stand-Up Comedy Archive from Attila the Stockbroker. Attila is a performance poet, punk poet and musician (and also a University of Kent alumnus).

The Attila the Stockbroker Archive comprises material created and collected by Attila, including his work (such as first drafts of poems, and notebooks), press coverage, publicity and promotional material for performance poetry and music gigs (flyers and posters) including for Glastonwick and Barnstormer events, fanzines and zines he collected and contributed to, as well as his manifesto for election as Student President whilst at the University of Kent in the 1970s!

Poster for Attila the Stockbroker’s performance at The Playhouse, Harlow, in May 1981. Courtesy Attila the Stockbroker.

Our main collecting focus is on alternative and stand-up comedy but we are really interested in the context surrounding the alternative comedy scene, including the alternative cabaret circuit. We want to ensure that we document these overlapping aspects and so we’re keen to represent the alternative cabaret circuit and those performing there; as other material in our collections show, these include performance and ranting poets (as well as magicians, circus acts and impressionists!)

I’m also pleased to announce that Attila will be doing an ‘in-conversation’ event with Olly Double followed by a performance of his work, in the Gulbenkian café on Monday 19 October – tickets available soon!

Poster for Barnstormer events at the Barn Theatre, Southwick, including comedian Mark Steel, and poet Linton Kwesi Johnson, with Attila the Stockbroker’s band ‘Barnstormer’, 1995. Courtesy Attila the Stockbroker.

On metadata and digital preservation tools

We’ve recently contributed to the Greatbear’s blog about some of our audiovisual material, and have discussed how we have prioritised digitization of audiovisual material, the digital preservation tools we’ve been using, metadata, and digital file formats. You can read our contributions on the Greatbear blog.

Audiovisual material from the Linda Smith Collection and Tony Allen Collection

Its been a while since I’ve shared some links that I’ve found useful lately, so I thought I’d do that now too…

DigiPres Commons is a website providing links to various other resources (such as those provided by the Open Preservation Foundation, the Digital Curation Centre, and the Internet Archive), and includes links to digital preservation tools, information on file formats, digital preservation FAQs, and help when writing a business case for digital preservation.

Linda Smith’s notes for her appearance on Room 101, broadcast 17 November 2003

The BBC Genome website has proved incredibly useful when sorting, organising and listing material within the Stand-Up Comedy Archive. Many of our depositors have also worked in TV and radio, as well as within the stand-up/cabaret circuit, and when we have unlabeled audio-visual material, or notes scribbled down for a radio or tv programme, we’ve generally been able to find out the date and station of broadcast using the Genome website. The Genome project contains listings information printed in the Radio Times between 1923 and 2009, and allows you to search by contributor or programme name. You can also get involved, and help provide additional information if there have been spelling or punctuation errors during the scanning process. This is a really great resource!

Digital Archiving at the University of York is a blog from Jenny Mitcham at the University of York. Jenny provides lots of interesting insights into the work of a Digital Archivist, and the blog has proved really interesting reading, particularly with relation to her investigations into floppy disks and her own use of digital preservation tools.

Stewart Lee in conversation with Oliver Double

Matt Hoss, third year University of Kent Drama and Classics student, reviews our second British Stand-Up Comedy Archive in conversation event, Stewart Lee in conversation with Oliver Double, which took place on Wednesday 10 June 2015 at the Gulbenkian Cinema for University of Kent staff and students:

The second of the ‘in conversation’ events features the “41^st Best Stand Up Ever”, Stewart Lee, where he assesses his comedic career on behalf of the British Stand-Up Comedy Archive. Dr Oliver Double hosts the discussion, taking place in The Gulbenkian Cinema, with a reflective demeanour supported by his articulate questions.

Stewart Lee in conversation with Oliver Double, Gulbenkian Cinema, 10 June 2015. Image © University of Kent / Matt Wilson

The conversation started by analysing Lee’s performance on the previous day at The Marlowe Theatre, looking at his abrasive techniques and poignant routines which he is mastering for the fourth season of his BBC Two series Stewart Lee’s Comedy Vehicle.

Lee discusses a lot about himself and his onstage “character”. The viscerally volatile persona onstage is significantly differently to the humbly modest man offstage, which creates an impressive and fascinating duality.

The dialogue gradually shifted to talk about Alternative Comedy as a whole, focusing on the gig diary of Monika Bobinska who ran The Meccano Club in the late eighties. Lee gives insight into the background workings of his early years by displaying the hardships of trying to get gigs.

The foundation of the talk is rooted with hilarious anecdotes and concludes with questions asked by the audience. Lee earnestly demonstrates why he is the most talented and innovative performer in Britain.

Stewart Lee in conversation with Oliver Double, Gulbenkian Cinema, 10 June 2015. Image © University of Kent / Matt Wilson

The event was audio recorded and has been added to the British Stand-Up Comedy Archive collections (reference: BSUCA/Events/SL2015).

British Stand-Up Comedy Archive at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2015

We’re really pleased to announce that the British Stand-Up Comedy Archive will be at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2015. Organised by Lakin McCarthy, Oliver Double will be hosting a number of in-conversation events (‘Talking Comedy’) with some fantastic comedians: Mark Thomas, Stephen K. Amos, Susan Calman, Jo Brand, Alexei Sayle and Nina Conti. The events are taking place at the Assembly Rooms, and tickets are bookable now from the Assembly Rooms website! Recordings of these interviews will be made for deposit in the British Stand-Up Comedy Archive.

British Stand-Up Comedy and Lakin McCarthy ‘Talking Comedy’ events, Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2015

BSUCA on soundcloud

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.

Spotlight on: The Monika Bobinska Collection

Elspeth Millar writes:

I’m really excited to announce that we have a new collection deposited within the British Stand-Up Comedy Archive, The Monika Bobinska Collection, which was deposited in April by Monika Bobinska.

The majority of the collection contains records of, and documents relating to, the Meccano Club, a comedy club which was established in 1985 by James Miller (stage name James Macabre), Mark Bobinski and Lucinda Denning, initially at the Camden Head, Angel, and later at The Market Tavern, Islington. Monika Bobinska ran the club from 1986 (initially with James and later on her own) until 1995. The records of the Meccano Club include administrative records (such as bookings books, payment receipts, contact books, contracts), promotion and publicity (flyers, posters, event listings), press cuttings, photographs, and audio-visual recordings (of live events, and broadcast programmes in which the Meccano featured). There is also material from the exhibition staged at the Canal Gallery in February and March 2015 ‘ALT CAB or Where Did It Go Wrong?‘, including promotion and material collated for the exhibition.

The Monika Bobinska Collection also includes material collected by Monika relating to the comedy circuit in the 1980s and 1990s, although not specifically related to the Meccano Club. This material includes a series of magazine publications including numerous Time Out issues, press cuttings relating to Comedy in London and specifically in the Islington area, leaflets for comedy festivals, badges and books regarding the A-Z of comedy and women in comedy, her private collection of the Joan Collins Fan Club material and also records for the ‘Cave of Harmony’, a series of stand-up comedy nights for women comedians. Monika has also deposited photographs of live performances at the Meccano Club and of professional head-shot portraits of comedian’s such as Eddie Izzard, Phil Jupitus, Matt Lucas & Mark Thomas.

The collection is important as, although it documents part of the early careers of some well-known comedians today (such as Harry Hill, Jo Brand), it also demonstrates how a comedy club, in the early days of ‘alternative comedy/cabaret’ conducted business and negotiated with venues and comedians.

The collection is currently being listed and digitised and will be catalogued and made available for public access over the next few months.

Harry Hill and Al Murray at the last night of the Meccano Club at the Market Tavern, Islington