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Oliver Double

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British comedian
Oliver Double
Oliver Double in 2022
Born (1965-05-22) 22 May 1965 (age 59)
Academic work
DisciplineArts
Sub-disciplineComedy and Popular Performance
InstitutionsUniversity 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) is a British stand-up comedian, author and academic. Since 1999, he has taught comic and popular performance at the University of Kent. His current roles at the university are Reader in Drama and Theatre, and Head of Comedy and Popular Performance.

Career

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

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

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

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

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

Books

  • Stand-Up! On Being a Comedian (1997, Methuen Drama) ISBN 9780413703200
  • Getting the Joke: The Inner Workings of Stand-Up Comedy (2004, Bloomsbury) ISBN 978-0413774767
  • Britain Had Talent: A History of Variety Theatre (2012, Palgrave Macmillan) ISBN 978-0230284609
  • Alternative Comedy: 1979 and the Reinvention of British Stand-Up (2020, Bloomsbury) ISBN 9781350052819

Collections

In 2014 Double helped to establish the British Stand-Up Comedy Archive (BSUCA) at the University of Kent. The archive's founding collection was the archive of comedian Linda Smith. 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.

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.

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. ^ "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. ^ "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. ^ "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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