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| Location | 316 New Cross Rd, Lewisham, London, SE14 |
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| Closed | 2003 |
The Goldsmiths Tavern was a pub and venue for both live music and comedy located at 316 New Cross Road, in the New Cross area of the London Borough of Lewisham in south-east London.
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| Location | 316 New Cross Rd, Lewisham, London, SE14 |
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| Closed | 2003 |
The Goldsmiths Tavern was a pub and venue for both live music and comedy located at 316 New Cross Road, in the New Cross area of the London Borough of Lewisham in south-east London.
The pub was originally named The New Cross House. Nathan Dews' book The History of Deptford from 1884 refers to a pub of that name "at the top of Clifton Hill", and so presumably in roughly the same spot. [1] An issue of the Berkshire Chronicle from 16 July 1825 also refers to an establishment of that name in Deptford. [2] In the 1960s Goldsmiths University students ran a folk club there. [3]
It was the original venue of Vic Reeves Big Night Out, a live comedy night he started there in 1986 before moving it to the Albany Empire in 1988, and also where Reeves met future comedy partner Bob Mortimer. [4] [5]
Whilst generally attracting a mixed clientele, it held gay nights in the 1980s and was considered an LGBTQ friendly space. [6] [7] Paul O'Grady would also perform there. [8] A club night named The Gift, calling itself "The only London Gay Alternative Club", ran there in the mid-1980s and hosted bands such as The Love Act and The House of Love. [9]
The building is still a pub, though now once again named The New Cross House. [10] [11]
Deptford is an area on the south bank of the River Thames in southeast London, in the Royal Borough of Greenwich and London Borough of Lewisham. It is named after a ford of the River Ravensbourne. From the mid 16th century to the late 19th it was home to Deptford Dockyard, the first of the Royal Dockyards. This was a major shipbuilding dock and attracted Peter the Great to come and study shipbuilding. Deptford and the docks are associated with the knighting of Sir Francis Drake by Queen Elizabeth I aboard the Golden Hind, the legend of Sir Walter Raleigh laying down his cape for Elizabeth, Captain James Cook's third voyage aboard HMS Resolution, and the mysterious apparent murder of Christopher Marlowe in a house along Deptford Strand.
Alternative comedy is a term coined in the 1980s for a style of comedy that makes a conscious break with the mainstream comedic style of an era. 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. 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. 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."
New Cross is an area in south-east London, England, 4.5 miles (7.2 km) south-east of Charing Cross in the London Borough of Lewisham and the SE14 postcode district. New Cross is near St Johns, Telegraph Hill, Nunhead, Peckham, Brockley, Deptford and Greenwich, and home to Goldsmiths, University of London, Haberdashers' Hatcham College and Addey and Stanhope School.
A gay bar is a drinking establishment that caters to an exclusively or predominantly lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or queer (LGBTQ+) clientele; the term gay is used as a broadly inclusive concept for LGBTQ+ communities.
Paul James O'Grady was an English comedian, broadcaster, drag queen, actor, and writer. He achieved notability in the London gay scene during the 1980s with his drag persona Lily Savage, through which he gained wider popularity in the 1990s. O'Grady subsequently dropped the character and in the 2000s became the presenter of various television and radio shows, including The Paul O'Grady Show.
Reeves and Mortimer, colloquially known as Vic and Bob, are a British double act consisting of Vic Reeves and Bob Mortimer. They have written and starred in several comedy programmes on British television since 1990, with Reeves having made his first TV appearance in 1986. They have often been referred to as a modern-day Morecambe and Wise.
James Roderick Moir, commonly known by his stage name Vic Reeves, is an English comedian and artist. He has a double act with Bob Mortimer as Reeves & Mortimer. He is known for his surreal sense of humour.
Robert Renwick Mortimer is an English comedian, author, television presenter, writer and actor. He is best known for his work with Vic Reeves as part of their Vic and Bob double act, and more recently the Mortimer & Whitehouse: Gone Fishing series with Paul Whitehouse. He has also appeared on panel shows such as Would I Lie to You? and Taskmaster.
Vic Reeves Big Night Out is a cult British comedy stage show and later television series which ran on Channel 4 for two series in 1990 and 1991, as well as a New Year special. Its live incarnation marked the beginnings of the collaboration between Vic Reeves and Bob Mortimer and started their Reeves and Mortimer comedy double act.
The King's Head Theatre, founded in 1970 by Dan Crawford, is an off-West End venue in London. The original venue was the oldest operating pub theatre in the UK. In 2024, the pub theatre, and the King's Head Theatre now operates from a purpose-built 220-seat space next door to the original venue. The theatre focusses on producing LGBTQ+ work that is joyful, irreverent, colourful and queer. It is currently led by Executive Director and Acting CEO Sofi Berenger.
Greek Street is a street in Soho, London, leading south from Soho Square to Shaftesbury Avenue. The street is famous for its restaurants and cosmopolitan nature.
The Weekenders is a one-off comic television pilot starring Vic Reeves and Bob Mortimer, produced by Granada Television for Channel 4. Broadcast on Wednesday 17 June 1992 as part of a series of pilots entitled Bunch of Five, it was a surreal sitcom in which two friends, Jim and Bob, visit a meat festival taking place in an open field. They are then chased by aliens who want the meat they have bought to feed their queen.
The George Tavern is a Grade II listed public house and music venue located on Commercial Road in Stepney, London. It is owned and operated by artist Pauline Forster.
De Hems is a café, pub and oyster-house in the Chinatown area of London just off Shaftesbury Avenue. It made its name purveying oysters and now sells beers from the Low countries such as Grolsch and Heineken with Dutch food such as bitterballen and frikandellen.
The Royal Vauxhall Tavern is a Grade II listed gay entertainment venue in Vauxhall, London. It is also known as the RVT. It is South London's oldest surviving gay venue.
The Camden Head is one of the oldest pubs in Camden, London, England having been established in 1787. It is also a former music venue and hosts comedy events.
The LGBT community in London is one of the largest within Europe. LGBT culture of London, England, is centred on Old Compton Street in Soho. There are also LGBT pubs and restaurants across London in Haggerston, Dalston and Vauxhall.
The Fighting Cocks is a music venue built prior to 1890 active since the 1930s and located in Kingston upon Thames, the administrative centre of the Royal Borough of Kingston, southwest London, England. It specializes in rock and roll, punk, metal, folk, ska, alternative, rockabilly, electro, comedy, and cabaret performances. It was conspicuous for hosting touring jazz acts in the late 1930s and in the 1940s. It is now a standard on the London live circuit. It was a popular watering hole, and host to many jam sessions including such artists as Eric Clapton, Shirley Collins, Frank Turner, Gallows, The Stupids, June Tabor and The Rolling Stones. Since 1992, it is also a live-audience training platform and term assessments venue for Kingston University's drama and music students.
The Royal Albert is a Grade II listed pub located at 460 New Cross Road, on the border of the New Cross and Deptford areas of the London Borough of Lewisham in south-east London.
51°28′32″N0°02′13″W / 51.47551192933665°N 0.03690110366148678°W
