Alternative comedy

Alternative comedy is a term coined in the 1980s for a style of comedy^[1]^[2] that makes a conscious break with the mainstream comedic style of an era.^[3] The phrase has had different connotations in different contexts: in the UK, it was used to describe content that was an "alternative" to the mainstream stand-up of the day which took place in working men's clubs, and was characterised by unoriginal gags often containing elements of sexism and racism.^[4]^[ambiguous] In other contexts, it is the nature of the form that is "alternative", avoiding reliance on a standardised structure of a sequence of jokes with punch lines.^[5] Patton Oswalt has defined it as "comedy where the audience has no pre-set expectations about the crowd, and vice versa. In comedy clubs, there tends to be a certain vibe—alternative comedy explores different types of material."^[6]

In an interview with The A.V. Club after his performance in the 2011 comedy-drama film Young Adult, Oswalt stated:

I had come up out of that whole alternative scene, which was all about, "Don't try it, man. Just go up and wing it." I think a lot of that comes from insecurity. It's that fashion of improv and amateurism that comes from the insecurity of saying to the audience, "Well, it doesn't matter if it doesn't go well, because I didn't even try that hard to begin with." It's like, "Oh, that's why you're not [trying]. If you actually tried hard and it sucked, then you've got to blame yourself." So that's what makes it hard for some people to sit down and actually just do the fucking work, because doing the work means you're making a commitment.^[7]

^ Thomas, David (5 March 1982). "Micro-epic of The Black Hole". The Times. p. v. At a time when "alternative comedy" is increasingly showing itself to be little other than a more aggressive version of the old comedy, the National Theatre of Brent are offering a style that is entirely original.
^ Lisa Selin Davis (10 November 2003). "The Brooklyn Paper: SERIOUS FUN". The Brooklyn Paper. Retrieved 30 October 2009. Alternative comedy is nothing new. The term gained fame in 1980s Britain, when out-of-the-ordinary sitcoms like The Young Ones or Absolutely Fabulous popped up, and continued in America with unorthodox sketch comedy groups such as Manhattan's Upright Citizen's Brigade. But, according to [Andrea Rosen of the 'Pie Hole Comedy Show' in Brooklyn, New York], alternative comedy predates all of those acts. 'Mel Brooks was an alternative comic,' said Rosen, citing his famous 2000-Year-Old Man routine. 'So is Steve Martin.' And Rosen's influences also include old masters like filmmaker Woody Allen, who started his career as a standup. 'There's a whole world of alternative comedy rooms, in bars and basements.'
^ Tunstall, Jeremy (1993). Television Producers. Routledge. p. 127. ISBN 0-415-09471-2. 'Alternative' comedy is inevitably difficult to define, not least because it tends, after an interval, to join the mainstream.
^ Cook, William (2001). The Comedy Store. Little, Brown & Company. ISBN 0-316-85792-0.
^ Double, Oliver (2014) [2005]. Getting the Joke: the inner workings of stand-up comedy (2nd ed.). New York: Bloomsbury Methuen Drama. p. 59. ISBN 978-1-4081-7460-9. Stylistically, American alternative comedy is, as one journalist wrote, 'hard to define and frequently in flux,' but like its UK equivalent, it tends to be loose, quirky, folksy, homemade, autobiographical, politically liberal and full of geeky pop culture references, with gags about comic books or cultish punk bands.
^ "5 questions with Patton Oswalt". Panorama Magazine. 5 May 2008. Retrieved 24 November 2014.
^ "Patton Oswalt on his most memorable roles and giving life advice to Dane Cook". The A.V. Club. Onion Inc. 9 November 2012. Archived from the original on 27 November 2012. Retrieved 22 November 2012.

[1] Thomas, David (5 March 1982). "Micro-epic of The Black Hole". The Times. p. v. At a time when "alternative comedy" is increasingly showing itself to be little other than a more aggressive version of the old comedy, the National Theatre of Brent are offering a style that is entirely original.

[2] Lisa Selin Davis (10 November 2003). "The Brooklyn Paper: SERIOUS FUN". The Brooklyn Paper. Retrieved 30 October 2009. Alternative comedy is nothing new. The term gained fame in 1980s Britain, when out-of-the-ordinary sitcoms like The Young Ones or Absolutely Fabulous popped up, and continued in America with unorthodox sketch comedy groups such as Manhattan's Upright Citizen's Brigade. But, according to [Andrea Rosen of the 'Pie Hole Comedy Show' in Brooklyn, New York], alternative comedy predates all of those acts. 'Mel Brooks was an alternative comic,' said Rosen, citing his famous 2000-Year-Old Man routine. 'So is Steve Martin.' And Rosen's influences also include old masters like filmmaker Woody Allen, who started his career as a standup. 'There's a whole world of alternative comedy rooms, in bars and basements.'

[3] Tunstall, Jeremy (1993). Television Producers. Routledge. p. 127. ISBN 0-415-09471-2. 'Alternative' comedy is inevitably difficult to define, not least because it tends, after an interval, to join the mainstream.

[Comedystore-4] Cook, William (2001). The Comedy Store. Little, Brown & Company. ISBN 0-316-85792-0.

[5] Double, Oliver (2014) [2005]. Getting the Joke: the inner workings of stand-up comedy (2nd ed.). New York: Bloomsbury Methuen Drama. p. 59. ISBN 978-1-4081-7460-9. Stylistically, American alternative comedy is, as one journalist wrote, 'hard to define and frequently in flux,' but like its UK equivalent, it tends to be loose, quirky, folksy, homemade, autobiographical, politically liberal and full of geeky pop culture references, with gags about comic books or cultish punk bands.

[6] "5 questions with Patton Oswalt". Panorama Magazine. 5 May 2008. Retrieved 24 November 2014.

[7] "Patton Oswalt on his most memorable roles and giving life advice to Dane Cook". The A.V. Club. Onion Inc. 9 November 2012. Archived from the original on 27 November 2012. Retrieved 22 November 2012.

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