A comedian or comic is a person who seeks to entertain an audience by making them laugh. This might be through jokes or amusing situations, or acting foolish, or employing prop comedy. A comedian who addresses an audience directly is called a stand-up comedian.
Richard Keith Herring is an English stand-up comedian and writer whose early work includes the comedy double act Lee and Herring. He is described by The British Theatre Guide as "one of the leading hidden masters of modern British comedy".
Alexei David Sayle is an English actor, author, stand-up comedian, television presenter and former recording artist. He was a leading figure in the British alternative comedy movement in the 1980s. He was voted the 18th greatest stand-up comic of all time on Channel 4's 100 Greatest Stand-Ups in 2007. In an updated 2010 poll he came 72nd.
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."
Arnold Brown is a Scottish Jewish comedian, one of the main figures in the alternative comedy scene of the early 1980s.
Linda Helen Smith was an English comedian and comedy writer. She appeared regularly on Radio 4 panel games, and was voted "Wittiest Living Person" by listeners in 2002. From 2004 to 2006 she was head of the British Humanist Association.
James Anthony Patrick Carr is a British-Irish comedian, presenter, writer and actor. He is known for his rapid-fire deadpan delivery of one-liners which have been known to offend some people. He began his comedy career in 1997, and he has regularly appeared on television as the host of Channel 4 panel shows such as 8 Out of 10 Cats, 8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown and The Big Fat Quiz of the Year.
Lee and Herring were a British standup comedy double act consisting of the comedians Stewart Lee and Richard Herring. They were most famous for their work on television, most notably Fist of Fun and This Morning with Richard Not Judy but had been working together on stage and on radio since the late 1980s.
Josie Isabel Long is an English comedian. She started performing as a stand-up at the age of 14 and won the BBC New Comedy Awards at 17.
Anthony Lawrence Allen was an English comedian and writer. Known as the "godfather of alternative comedy", Allen was one of the original alternative comedians. In May 1979, following notoriety at Speakers' Corner with his "Full-Frontal Anarchy Platform", he began to perform at The Comedy Store. Two months later he founded Alternative Cabaret with Alexei Sayle and ran a regular "Alt Cab" Club night in the back bar of the Elgin pub on Ladbroke Grove in London.
Bridget Louise Christie is an English stand-up comedian, actress and writer. She has written and performed 13 solo stand-up shows and several comedy tours, in addition to radio and television work.
Stuart Goldsmith is an English actor, stand-up comedian and former street performer. He has presented the Comedian's Comedian podcast since 2012.
The Comedian's Comedian with Stuart Goldsmith is an interview podcast, in which Stuart Goldsmith interviews comedians about the craft of writing and performing standup comedy.
Funny Women is an online and in-person workshop community dedicated to the support of female comedians. It was founded by Lynne Parker in 2002 as a reaction to misogynistic comments from a comedy promoter. Funny Women helps women find their voice, promote them, and assists charities.
Jamali Maddix is an English stand-up comedian. He appears as a regular panellist on the reboot of Never Mind the Buzzcocks and appeared on series 11 of Taskmaster.
Nathan Cassidy is a British comedian and podcaster. In 2021, he was nominated for an Off West End Stage Award for his show 'Bumblebee' along with nominations for Best Comedy Show at the Greater Manchester Fringe and Buxton Fringe. 'Bumblebee' was released as an Amazon Prime Special in 2022. In 2022, he was nominated for Best Standup at the Buxton Fringe for his show 'Hot Tub God' and this show along with his show 'Observational' were awarded with the Best Standup Award at the Brighton Fringe 2022. For his shows 'Amnesia' and 'Fifty' he was awarded with the Best Standup Award at the Brighton Fringe 2023 and 'Fifty' was nominated for Best Standup at the Buxton Fringe 2023. He was previously nominated for Best Show at the Leicester Comedy Festival 2020 for his show 'Observational'. This show was widely reported in the press as the only live show at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2020. The show was given four stars by The Times which reviewed it as 'The best show at the Fringe. A classic, structured, rollercoaster Fringe hour...star-in-waiting...he is untouchable.' Previously he was nominated for a Malcolm Hardee Award in 2012, won best solo comedy show on the Buxton Fringe in 2014, and was nominated for the same award in 2015, 2016, 2017 2019, and 2021. He has also won the Sir Michael Caine Award for new writing in theatre. He also presents the podcast Psycomedy about the Psychology of stand-up comedy and the daily comedy/piano podcast Daily Notes.
Pierre Novellie is a South African-born comedian.
Jim Barclay is an English actor and comedian, who played the title role of Jossy Blair in the BBC TV series Jossy's Giants. He was also part of the early British alternative comedy movement in the 1980s.
Anthony Irvine, also known as the Iceman and aim, is a British performance artist and visual artist.
Quantum Leopard is a comedy night in London that is hosted and organised by James Ross. It was created in 2015 and has won multiple Chortle Awards. A pay-what-you-want show, it has a mixture of professional and semi-professional comedians and new acts.
