The Comedic Legacy Left By The ‘80s Alternative Comedy Scene

Jasmine Kelly

For many reading this, the ‘80s did not exist for us. It lives in our heads as a vision of neon colours, mullets, denim jackets and funky pop music. These ‘80s influences are still all around us even 3 decades later but what maybe is not as recognised is the impact that the British alternative comedy scene of the ‘80s has had on our society today.

This new alternative style of comedy, was one which appeared to leave the seemingly mainstream racist and sexist ideals in the past and instead, was largely characterised by young, left-wing comedians whose performance style was less composed and more upfront, in-your-face style comedy.

The true home of this alternative style comedy was at the Comedy Store club which opened in 1979 on the top floor of a topless bar in Soho and invited new comedians to share their talents. It was from this call that many now-famous comedians blossomed with the likes of Rik Mayall, Adrian Edmondson, Nigel Planer, Dawn French and Jennifer Saunders, all of which went on to form the group The Comic Strip with their own tv show The Comic Strip Presents… premiering in 1982 which turned the comedians away from stand-up and more towards acting; with their first episode being a parody of Enid Blyton’s Famous Five.

Also in 1982 was the premiere of The Young Ones, a revolutionary sitcom about four students, played by Mayall, Edmundson, Planer and Christopher Ryan. Featuring slapstick humour, surrealism, and musical performances with the likes of Madness and Motorhead, the show was a real variety but, despite this, the essence and chaos of The Young Ones is still somewhat replicated in the student houses of today, bar the explosions and kicking the doors down. The show was revolutionary for the time as it brought comedy to be directed specifically at young people and helped them laugh at the turbulently political early ‘80s. Without The Young Ones’ influence and their deliberate targeting of young adults, 2008 sitcom The Inbetweeners wouldn’t have been possible with the four student characters and their teenage antics reminiscent of The Young Ones’ style and insulting humour.

It wouldn’t be right to talk about the comedy scene of the ‘80s without mentioning Stephen Fry, Hugh Laurie and Emma Thompson. While considered less alternative as they emerged from the Cambridge Footlights, they still somewhat embodied the alternative spirit with their youthful energy and stereotypical avoidance, even if they were less anarchical in their delivery and jokes. All of them even guest starred in The Young Ones on their spoof of University Challenge representing the Footlights where they appeared as entitled rich kids. The trio went on to have their own sketch show Alfresco, written by Ben Elton who also co-wrote The Young Ones.

Ben Elton as a comedic force behind the scenes in the ‘80s did not stop there however, as he also went on to co-write Blackadder, which brought Hugh Laurie, Stephen Fry and Rik Mayall together with Rowan Atkinson as the standout star as the lead character Edmund Blackadder. Set in various time periods, including the Middle Ages, Elizabethan, Regency and World War One, and laced with satire, it was ground-breaking in establishing the historical sitcom as a genre. It paved the way for the comedically educational kids TV show Horrible Histories, a show dedicated to providing kids with accurate historical knowledge, unlike Blackadder, with the hysterical flair that Blackadder certainly provided. Ben Elton also later wrote Upstart Crow, a Shakespearean comedy, much inspired by his earlier work on Blackadder.

The ‘80s appeared to be a time of tumultuous political existence and these youthful alternative comedians provided a hysterical way of coping by harnessing the confusion felt by many into comedy. The often-left-wing stance taken by many of these comedians along with the satire and parodying, without leaning into racist and sexist stereotypes, was unconventional for the time and with its targeting of a younger generation; its unsurprising that the ‘80s comedic legacy still lasts and that pieces of it can be found in comedy shows even today.