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The Comedy Store, London
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Comedy Store is a comedy club located in Soho, London, England that was opened in 1979 by Don Ward and Peter Rosengard.
It was named after The Comedy Store club in the United States, which Rosengard visited the previous year. Starting out above a strip club, in 1982 they moved to Leicester Square, a premises they were able to take over formally in 1985.
The club was the focus of the "alternative comedy" boom in the early 1980s and helped start the careers of many comedians, including Alexei Sayle, Rik Mayall, Adrian Edmondson, Ben Elton and Keith Allen.
In October 1985, an improvisational group called The Comedy Store Players was formed, consisting of Mike Myers, Neil Mullarkey, Kit Hollerbach, Dave Cohen and Paul Merton. The group has had several lineup changes over the years, and now features a rotating team of Neil Mullarkey, Paul Merton, Josie Lawrence, Richard Vranch (a comedy improviser who also plays piano), Jim Sweeney, Lee Simpson and Andy Smart, together with frequent guest appearances. Several of The Comedy Store Players appeared on the BBC Radio 4 and Channel 4 comedy game show Whose Line Is It Anyway?.
The Comedy Store also has sister venues in Manchester (opened in 2000), Leeds and Bournemouth (2006). There was also a venue at the Merrion Centre in Leeds which opened in November 2003 but had closed after 8 months in June 2004 due to a lack of attractions in the immediate area. [1]
The Comedy Store has emerged as one of the most famous comedy club venues of it's genre in London. [2]
King Gong When the comedy store started there was a Gong competition that was hosted by Alexei Sayle. It became such a popular fixture of the show that the audience would shout out for the gong, giving the performer little or no chance to start, so that they would go through the acts at a rate of knots.