Oliver Double

Last updated
Oliver Double
Oliverdouble (c)mistereb.jpg
Oliver Double in 2022
Born (1965-05-22) 22 May 1965 (age 59)
Academic work
DisciplineArts
Sub-disciplineComedy and Popular Performance
Institutions University of Kent
Notable worksStand-Up! On Being a Comedian (1997), Alternative Comedy: 1979 and the Reinvention of British Stand-Up. (2020)

Oliver Double (born 22 April 1965)[ citation needed ] is a British stand-up comedian, author and academic. Since 1999, he has taught comic and popular performance at the University of Kent. [1] His current roles at the university are Reader in Drama and Theatre, and Head of Comedy and Popular Performance. [2] [3]

Contents

Career

Double worked as a circuit comedian and founded the Last Laugh comedy club in Sheffield. [4] He continues to perform in his one-person shows Saint Pancreas [5] and Break a Leg and in a monthly comedy club called Funny Rabbit. [6]

He has written books on the subject including 1997's Stand Up! [7] and 2012's Britain Had Talent [8] as well as book chapters and articles about stand-up comedy, alternative comedy, [9] [10] [11] variety theatre and vaudeville [12]

Double contributed to the creation of the British Stand-Up Comedy Archive (BSUCA) at Kent University's Templeman Library [13] [14] and he produced a monthly podcast about BSUCA called A History of Comedy in Several Objects. [15] [16]

He has appeared on TV programmes and documentaries discussing stand-up comedy, including BBC's Imagine and Horizon . [17] He has also appeared on numerous comedy podcasts including The Alexei Sayle Podcast where he discussed Bertolt Brecht [18] and Book Shambles where he discussed the history alternative comedy with Josie Long and Robin Ince. [18]

Double teaches practical performance [19] including stand-up comedy [20] based on research and many of his students have become professional comedians. [12]

Books

Collections

In 2014 Double helped to establish the British Stand-Up Comedy Archive (BSUCA) at the University of Kent. [21] The archive's founding collection was the archive of comedian Linda Smith. [21] BSUCA has been actively acquiring material ever since, and now holds a wide variety of collections including material from Mark Thomas, Andy de la Tour, Josie Long, Funny Women, Harry Hill, and Jeremy Hardy. [21]

Double also deposited his own material into the archive; the Oliver Double Collection includes extensive audio-visual material (featuring interviews with many comedians), live recordings and show notes. [22]

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References

  1. ↑ Guardian Staff (August 10, 1999). "King of comedy". the Guardian.
  2. ↑ "Oliver Double". School of Arts - University of Kent.
  3. ↑ "Oliver Double". TEDx London Business School. November 4, 2021.
  4. ↑ "CityLIS Workplace Forum". www.city.ac.uk. March 17, 2021.
  5. ↑ "Oliver Double - Break a Leg". 19 April 2016 – via www.youtube.com.
  6. ↑ "Funny Rabbit Comedy Club (@funnyrabbitcomedy) • Instagram photos and videos". www.instagram.com.
  7. ↑ Nallon, Steve (August 6, 1999). "Oliver Double Stand-Up! On Being a ComedianLondon: Methuen, 1997. Pbk., £9.99. ISBN 0-413-70320-7". New Theatre Quarterly. 15 (3): 286. doi:10.1017/S0266464X00013142. S2CID   190740827 – via Cambridge University Press.
  8. ↑ "Britain Had Talent: A History Of Variety Theatre by Oliver Double : Book reviews 2012 : Chortle : The UK Comedy Guide". www.chortle.co.uk.
  9. ↑ Bennett, Steve. "'The Comedy Store was not an alternative comedy venue' : News 2019 : Chortle : The UK Comedy Guide". www.chortle.co.uk.
  10. ↑ "Alternative Comedy, by Oliver Double : Book reviews 2020 : Chortle : The UK Comedy Guide". www.chortle.co.uk.
  11. ↑ "Beyond The Comic Strip: what does 'alternative comedy' mean in 2022?". the Guardian. June 29, 2022.
  12. 1 2 "Laura Lexx: 'I did 10 gigs for a master's in standup comedy – then never stopped'". the Guardian. September 19, 2022.
  13. ↑ Bennett, Steve. "Mark Thomas savages Boris Johnson as he collects degree : News 2022 : Chortle : The UK Comedy Guide". www.chortle.co.uk.
  14. ↑ Guide, British Comedy (August 16, 2021). "Leicester Comedy Festival to publish All Puns Blazing joke book". British Comedy Guide.
  15. ↑ "A History Of Comedy In Several Objects on Apple Podcasts". Apple Podcasts.
  16. ↑ "A History Of Comedy In Several Objects". Matt Hoss Comedy.
  17. ↑ "Oliver Double". IMDb.
  18. 1 2 "The Alexei Sayle Podcast: Tingle Tangles (Bertolt Brecht special with Dr. Oliver Double) on Apple Podcasts". Apple Podcasts.
  19. ↑ Beattie, Alan (July 19, 2019). "Calling Boris Johnson a clown is unfair to clowns". Financial Times.
  20. ↑ "The most famous comedian you've never heard of". BBC News. September 4, 2010.
  21. 1 2 3 "About the British Stand-Up Comedy Archive". Special Collections and Archives - University of Kent. Retrieved 2024-05-15.
  22. ↑ University of Kent Special Collections & Archives. "Oliver Double Collection". University of Kent Special Collections & Archives Catalogue. Retrieved 2024-05-15.
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