The Oxford Revue is a comedy group primarily featuring students from

Oxford University Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to th ...

and Oxford Brookes University,

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. Founded in the early 1950s, The Oxford Revue has produced many prominent comedians, actors and satirists. The Revue writes, produces and performs several shows each term in the pubs and theatres around

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

, as well as touring to cities in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

and performing a month-long run at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival every year.

History

:According to a version of the Oxford Revue website circa 2003/2004, ''"the founding of the Revue in around 1952/3 is shrouded in mystery. The most accurate account of it to date is probably that of

Michael Palin Sir Michael Edward Palin (; born 5 May 1943) is an English actor, comedian, writer, television presenter, and public speaker. He was a member of the Monty Python comedy group. Since 1980, he has made a number of travel documentaries. Palin w ...

, former Revue Director, who describes how his brother-in-law and 'another mad gentleman' started the Oxford Theatre Group, as a source of funding for Edinburgh shows, in the early 1950s. From this, he "helped found an offshoot group, the Oxford Revue Group, to take a revue up to the

Edinburgh Fringe The Edinburgh Festival Fringe (also referred to as The Fringe, Edinburgh Fringe, or Edinburgh Fringe Festival) is the world's largest arts and media festival, which in 2019 spanned 25 days and featured more than 59,600 performances of 3,841 dif ...

".'' Former members include: *

and

Terry Jones Terence Graham Parry Jones (1 February 1942 – 21 January 2020) was a Welsh comedian, director, historian, actor, writer and member of the Monty Python comedy team. After graduating from Oxford University with a degree in English, Jones and ...

(who later became members of Monty Python) *

Dudley Moore Dudley Stuart John Moore CBE (19 April 193527 March 2002) was an English actor, comedian, musician and composer. Moore first came to prominence in the UK as a leading figure in the British satire boom of the 1960s. He was one of the four writ ...

(later of Beyond the Fringe,

Pete and Dud Pete and Dud were characters played by the comedians and entertainers Peter Cook and Dudley Moore. The dialogue format originated in 1964 when Dudley Moore invited Peter Cook to appear in a television performance. Cook scripted a conversation bet ...

and Not Only... But Also) *

Alan Bennett Alan Bennett (born 9 May 1934) is an English actor, author, playwright and screenwriter. Over his distinguished entertainment career he has received numerous awards and honours including two BAFTA Awards, four Laurence Olivier Awards, and two ...

(later of Beyond the Fringe) * Rowan Atkinson * Maggie Smith *

Al Murray Alastair James Hay Murray (born 10 May 1968) is an English comedian, actor, musician and writer from Hammersmith. In 2003, he was listed in ''The Observer'' as one of the 50 funniest acts in British comedy, and in 2007 he was voted the 16th gre ...

Richard Curtis Richard Whalley Anthony Curtis (born 8 November 1956) is a New Zealand-born British screenwriter, producer and film director. One of Britain's most successful comedy screenwriters, he is known primarily for romantic comedy films, among them '' ...

Katy Brand Katherine Frances Brand (born 1979), known as Katy Brand, is an English actress, comedian and writer, known for her ITV2 series ''Katy Brand's Big Ass Show'' and for Comedy Lab ''Slap'' on Channel 4. Early life and education Brand was born in ...

Stewart Lee Stewart Graham Lee (born 5 April 1968) is an English comedian, screenwriter, and television director. His stand-up routine is characterised by repetition, internal reference, deadpan delivery, and consistent breaking of the fourth wall. Lee b ...

Ken Loach Kenneth Charles Loach (born 17 June 1936) is a British film director and screenwriter. His socially critical directing style and socialist ideals are evident in his film treatment of social issues such as poverty ('' Poor Cow'', 1967), homelessn ...

* Angus Deayton *

Richard Herring Richard Keith Herring (born 12 July 1967) is an English stand-up comedian and writer, whose early work includes the comedy double act Lee and Herring (alongside Stewart Lee). He is described by ''The British Theatre Guide'' as "one of the lead ...

Rebecca Front Rebecca Louise Front (born 16 May 1964) is an English actress, writer and comedian. She won the 2010 BAFTA TV Award for Best Female Comedy Performance for '' The Thick of It'' (2009–2012).Jennifer Lipma"Bafta for Jewish actress Rebecca Front" ...

(first female president of the Revue) *

Armando Iannucci Armando Giovanni Iannucci (; born 28 November 1963) is a Scottish satirist, writer, director, producer, performer, and panellist. Born in Glasgow to Italian parents, Iannucci studied at the University of Glasgow followed by the University of ...

Philip Pope Philip R. J. Pope is a British composer and actor. He is best known for role as Tony Angelino in Only Fools And Horses. He was educated at Downside School and New College, Oxford. Performer Pope appeared in the Oxford Revue in Edinburgh Festi ...

Laura Solon Laura Madalene Solon (born April 1979) is an English screenwriter, comedian, actress, and winner of the 2005 Perrier Comedy Award. She was the second woman to win as a solo performer, after Jenny Eclair in 1995. Background Solon was raised in G ...

Katherine Parkinson Katherine Jane Parkinson (born 9 March 1978) is an English actress. She appeared in Channel 4's '' The IT Crowd'' comedy series as Jen Barber, for which she received a British Comedy Best TV Actress Award in 2009 and 2014, and was nominated twice ...

Peter Harness Peter Harness (born 1976) is an English playwright, screenwriter and actor. He has contributed to programmes such as ''McMafia'', '' City of Vice'' and '' Case Histories''. Early life He grew up in Hornsea, East Yorkshire and attended Oriel Col ...

* Laura Corcoran and Matthew Floyd Jones *

Sally Phillips Sally Elizabeth Phillips (born 10 May 1970) is an English actress, television presenter, and comedian. She co-created and was one of the writers of the sketch comedy show '' Smack the Pony''. She is also known for her roles in '' Miranda'' as T ...

Guy Browning Guy Browning (born 1964 in Chipping Norton) is a humourist, after-dinner speaker and film director. He wrote the ''How To...'' column in ''The Guardian'' from 1999–2009. Before that he wrote about office politics and social climbing. Early l ...

* Ben Moor * Waen Shepherd *

Emma Kennedy Emma Kennedy (born Elizabeth Emma Williams on 28 May 1967) is an English actress, lawyer, comedian, and travel writer, comedian, television presenter and author. Early life and education The daughter of teachers,

* David Schneider *

Geoffrey Perkins Geoffrey Howard Perkins (22 February 1953 – 29 August 2008) was a British comedy producer, writer and performer. Best known as the BBC head of comedy (1995–2001), he produced the first two radio series of ''The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galax ...

Imogen Stubbs Imogen Stubbs (born 20 February 1961) is an English actress and writer. Her first leading part was in '' Privileged'' (1982), followed by '' A Summer Story'' (1988). Her first play, '' We Happy Few'', was produced in 2004. In 2008 she joined ...

Patrick Marber Patrick Albert Crispin Marber (born 19 September 1964) is an English comedian, playwright, director, actor, and screenwriter. Early life Marber was born and raised in a middle-class Jewish family in Wimbledon, London, the son of Angela (Benja ...

Frank Cottrell-Boyce Frank Cottrell-Boyce (born 23 September 1959)"COTTRELL-BOYCE, Frank", ''Who's Who 2010'', A & C Black, 2010; online edn, Oxford University Press, Dec 2009 ; online edn, Nov 200 Retrieved 2010-05-16. is an English people, English screenwriter ...

* Howard Goodall

Recent activities (2021 to present)

In August 2021, the Oxford Revue published their online Fringe show 'The Oxford Revue Kills God, Again', directed by Angus Moore and Jack McMinn and filmed in the Burton-Taylor Studio and

University Parks The Oxford University Parks, commonly referred to locally as the University Parks, or just The Parks, is a large parkland area slightly northeast of the city centre in Oxford, England. The park is bounded to the east by the River Cherwell, thou ...

- the 42 minute production was then published on their Facebook page in December 2021. On 15th January 2022, the Revue performed another sketch show, 'The People VS. The Oxford Revue', directed by Alison Hall and Alfred Dry, live at the Old Fire Station in Oxford - tickets completely sold out at least 2 days before the opening night and the show itself was critically acclaimed. The Oxford Revue regularly updates its Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, the latter of which recently hosted a series of shorts called 'Insta-Revue!'. They also continue to regularly perform 'Audrey' comedy nights and collaborate with other comedy groups across the UK (including the Durham Revue and the

Cambridge Footlights Cambridge University Footlights Dramatic Club, commonly referred to simply as the Footlights, is an amateur theatrical club in Cambridge, England, founded in 1883 and run by the students of Cambridge University. History Footlights' inaugural ...

. They brought two shows to

2022 - ''The People vs. The Oxford Revue'' and ''The Oxford Revue and other Farmyard Animals'', both of which were directed by Alison Hall and Alfred Dry. The Oxford Revue performances were given 4 1/2 stars by the Edinburgh Fringe Derek Awards

Logo

The current logo of the Oxford Revue is a pig in a sailor's hat named Admiral Philip, drawn by Revue member Nick Davies in 2013. In 2021, Philip the Pig's design was updated to include a top hat and bow tie, as well as a

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

accent.

References

External links

Oxford Revue website

{{DEFAULTSORT:Oxford Revue, The 1952 establishments in England Organizations established in 1952 Amateur theatre companies in England Theatre in Oxford Clubs and societies of the University of Oxford Student theatre in the United Kingdom