| Ref No | BSUCA/OD/1/20/1 |
| Collection | Oliver Double Collection |
| Title | Tony Allen interviewed by Oliver Double |
| Name of creator | Double, Oliver, 1965- |
| Date | 2002/2003 |
| Duration | 13 min. 57 sec. |
| Extent | 1 audio file Broadcast WAVE Format (BWF) |
| Description | Tony Allen interviewed by Oliver Double.
Summary:
[8.44] Olly sound-tests the microphone asking Tony Allen to talk. Tony Allen then starts talking about how comedy has changed [9.21] Phone rings and Olly answers [9.35] Tony talks about doing a workshop with comedians and the issues with teaching comedy in that students sometimes chose personas that they wish to be like and then fail to be unique performers [11.02] OD asks how generic styles grew out of the comedy scene that TA was vital in creating [11.09] TA says that anything can be generic and it has to do with laziness and a lack of sincerity in the artistic process. TA says that there is a difference between giving he audience what they want and giving them what they never knew they wanted [11.38] OD asks how we can encourage more artists and less performers [11.43] TA says this can be helped by getting the artists to express themselves. Practically, TA says that in his workshops he encourages people to understand their differences and work with this uniqueness [14.08] OD asks Tony about performing with bands and how their audience differed in their reactions & expectations [14.28] TA says that if you are genuine to who you are, the audience will recognise and appreciate this honesty [15.03] Olly asks about the Punk band Crass and performing at this time and the concepts of anarchy and freedom [15.32] TA says this music was very of the time and very appropriate. Although it got people talking about anarchy, there was a lot of people following punk who were just in to it for the fashion [17.38] OD asks about the role comedy can play in encouraging individuals to come together and make things happen and what it felt like to be performing with such influential figures in the early days of alternative comedy [18.08] TA talks about feeling as important as the people he performed with. He says that performers like Alexei Sayle and Keith Allen were the ones who really challenged the Zeitgeist. He says that although having different politics to other comedians, many were comedians were able to join together key issues such as the Falkland's war & feminism. During this time TA enjoyed deconstructing sexuality and race on stage, however many comedians did not like doing this. TA believes that in current times there are different issues and prejudices that need to be deconstructed such as 'madness' and mental health [24.19] OD asks TA about the 'winner' mentality in stand-up comedy [24.48] TA says this can really damage the way people treat each other in society [27.32] OD asks about political comedians and whether they're still important [28.21] TA says political comedians are still out there but there seems to be less. People like Mark Thomas, Rob Newman & Jeremy Hardy are doing it 'right', but in some ways it's not 'funny' enough for him [29.53] recording ends. |
| Notes | 1 MiniDisc, digitised to LPCM wave 24 bit 48kHz. Digitised using Sony Minidisc Deck MDS-JE53; Roland Edirol UA-25 and Adobe Audition CC. 2014. 2015-07-09. Extract created using Adobe Audition CC 2015. 2015-10-21. |
| This interview was originally recorded on MiniDisc BSUCA/OD/20/1; 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; Tony Allen |
| Level | Item |