| Ref No | BSUCA/OD/1/1/1 |
| Collection | Oliver Double Collection |
| Title | Eric Thomas interviewed by Oliver Double |
| Name of creator | Double, Oliver, 1965-; Thomas, Eric |
| Date | 16/05/1988 |
| Duration | 14 min. 9 sec. |
| Extent | 1 audio file Broadcast WAVE Format (BWF) |
| Description | Eric Thomas ('Our Clubs' magazine) interviewed by Oliver Double for his PhD at the University of Sheffield ('An approach to traditions of British stand-up comedy', 1991).
Oliver Double [OD] interviewing Eric Thomas [ET] of our 'Our Clubs' magazine (16 May 1988), talking about the club circuit in Sheffield. ET had been writing for the journal for 26 years, but has been going to clubs since 1938. Talks about the history of the clubs; talks about money problems, rising ticket prices [1:25] Discussion of the change in clubs once variety died out (performers moved from variety to clubs) Variety acts did early work in the clubs; worked in the clubs Saturday afternoon and Sunday night. [02:40] change in the club comedians to stand-up comedians; more sophisticated in style of dress, but increase in blue comedy (comedy was more subtle) [03:40] Discusses the main topics of comedy in clubs; used to be jokes about Irish people, now jokes about television, political slant with jokes about politicians [05:40] OD asks about ET's favourite comedians, talks about Ron Dale [ph], his timing, also sang [06:54 noise stops] [07:10] Discussion about those comedians who were in the clubs that are now on television for example Paul Chaney [ph] [07:40] ET's thoughts on alternative comedy (OD mentions 'The Young Ones'); ET favours traditional comedy. [08:08] Discussion about the rise of female comdedians (mentions Janice York). Differences in what women comedians talk about; use of blue comedy in order to make an impression on their audience [10:20] ratio of comedy acts on a normal club bill compared to singers; comics in the minority; more singers and specialist acts (e.g. mime comics).[12:08] difficulty of club work with a live audience; need to be adaptable [12:59] brief discussion of Frankie Howerd who found playing the clubs a different world compared to variety halls [13:18 factory noise starts again] Discussion that those acts started by busking outside theatres [14:09 end of interview] |
| Notes | LPCM wave 24 bit 48kHz. Digitised using Denon Cassette Deck DN-790R, Roland Edirol UA-55, and Adobe Audition CC 2014. 2015-06-24. Extract created using Adobe Audition CC 2015. 2015-10-19. |
| This interview was originally recorded on sound cassette BSUCA/OD/1/1; a digital copy has been made for access purposes. |
| Category | Audio recordings |
| Access conditions | Available for consultation at the University of Kent's Special Collections & Archives reading room, Templeman Library, University of Kent, Canterbury, CT2 7NU. Access is available via digital listening copies. The University of Kent acknowledges the intellectual property rights of those named as contributors in this recording and the rights of those not identified. |
| Copyright | Oliver Double, Eric Thomas |
| Level | Item |