Alternative Cabaret in Conversation

This chapter is an edited transcript of an event in 2019 with the core members of the group Alternative Cabaret, one of the founding pillars of the alternative comedy movement. Tony Allen, Jim Barclay, Andy de la Tour, and Pauline Melville recall their early experiences of performing stand-up, how the Comedy Store brought them together, and the formation of Alternative Cabaret. They reflect on the venues they played, the politics that informed them, how their acts developed, their 1981 show at the Edinburgh Fringe, de la Tour’s trip to play republican clubs in Northern Ireland, and what they have done since moving away from stand-up. They also respond to archive recordings of their 1980s comedy routines, which are included here as transcripts.