The Groucho Club is a

private members' club Private members' clubs are organisations which provide social and other facilities to members who typically pay a membership fee for access and use. Some were originally elitist gentlemen's clubs to which members first had to be elected; others ...

formed in 1985 located on Dean Street in London's Soho. Its members are mostly drawn from the publishing, media, entertainment and arts industries. The club has rooms on several floors, including three bars, two

restaurant A restaurant is a business that prepares and serves food and drinks to customers. Meals are generally served and eaten on the premises, but many restaurants also offer take-out and food delivery services. Restaurants vary greatly in appearan ...

s, an enclosed terrace and 20

bedroom A bedroom or bedchamber is a room situated within a residential or accommodation unit characterised by its usage for sleeping and sexual activity. A typical western bedroom contains as bedroom furniture one or two beds (ranging from a crib for ...

s available for members or their guests, a

snooker Snooker (pronounced , ) is a cue sports, cue sport played on a Billiard table#Snooker and English billiards tables, rectangular table covered with a green cloth called baize, with six Billiard table#Pockets 2, pockets, one at each corner and o ...

room, and four event rooms available for hire.

History

The club opened 5 May 1985. Its name was in reference to

Groucho Marx Julius Henry "Groucho" Marx (; October 2, 1890 – August 19, 1977) was an American comedian, actor, writer, stage, film, radio, singer, television star and vaudeville performer. He is generally considered to have been a master of quick wit an ...

's telegram saying he did not want to be a member of any club that would have him. The club was owned from 2006 to 2015 by

Graphite Capital Graphite Capital is a private equity firm focused on mid-market leveraged buyout investments, primarily in the UK. The group manages around £1.2 billion for institutional investors, with the most recent fund raising over £500 million in 2018. ...

, who sold it to a group of investors led by Isfield Investments and Alcuin Capital Partners. In 2022, the Groucho Club was purchased through Manuela and Iwan Wirth's Art Farm, which owns a group of boutique hotels and restaurants, for £40 million ($48.9 million).

Members

Anyone may apply for membership, but applications are favoured from individuals working in the creative side of media and the arts and who are proposed by two existing members. Well-known members of the club include Lily Allen,

Melvyn Bragg Melvyn Bragg, Baron Bragg, (born 6 October 1939), is an English broadcaster, author and parliamentarian. He is best known for his work with ITV as editor and presenter of ''The South Bank Show'' (1978–2010), and for the BBC Radio 4 documenta ...

, Stephen Fry, Noel Gallagher, Luke Pasqualino and Rachel Weisz.

Art

The club has a large collection of contemporary art curated by Nicki Carter, a graduate of Goldsmiths' during the YBA period, erstwhile waitress and now longest serving employee of the club. The Groucho Club Collection includes works by: Gavin Turk, Marc Quinn, Ian Davenport, Gary Hume, Alison Watt, Damien Hirst, Josef O’Connor, Sir Peter Blake, Mat Collishaw, Hayden Kays, Conrad Shawcross, Polly Morgan,

Jim Lambie James Lambie (born 1964 in Glasgow, Scotland) is a contemporary visual artist, and was shortlisted for the 2005 Turner Prize with an installation called ''Mental Oyster''. Jim Lambie graduated from the Glasgow School of Art (1990-1994) with an H ...

and Stella Vine and

Carl Hopgood Carl Hopgood (born 1972 in Cardiff, Wales) is a British sculptor, set designer, video and installation artist, and neon artist. He is best known for his works ''Digital Taxidermy'', film sculptures, and his solo show ''Arrivals Departures'' at ...

The Groucho Club Maverick Award

Launched in 2010 as 'the antidote to other awards', The Groucho Award celebrates people who have broken the mould in their own particular field, by challenging and making a significant contribution to culture and the Arts in the previous 12 months, either in the UK or internationally. Nominations for the award are made by Groucho Club members. The winner of the award receives £10,000 in prize money, lifetime membership and a sculpture. The announcement of the winner is made at an awards ceremony held at the club. Previous winners include: *The Bush Theatre (2013 Winner), Tamara Rojo, Jeremy Deller, Jack Monroe, Haifaa Al-Mansour, Matilda Tristram. *Danny Boyle (2012 Winner), Michael Fassbender, Pussy Riot, Grayson Perry, Noel Fielding, Deborah Curtis. *Nick Davies (2011 Winner), Molly Crabapple, Idris Elba, Hilary Lloyd, Caitlin Moran, Tom Watson. *Nell Gifford (2010 Winner), Javier De Frutos, Monte Hellman, Henry Hudson, Simon Singh, Tilda Swinton.

The Gang Show

The Groucho Club produces The Gang Show held every year at the club. Previous performers have included

Chrissie Hynde Christine Ellen Hynde (born September 7, 1951) is an American musician. She is a founding member and the lead vocalist, guitarist, and primary songwriter of the rock band the Pretenders, and one of the band's two remaining original members alon ...

, UB40, Heaven 17,

Annie Lennox Ann Lennox (born 25 December 1954) is a Scottish singer-songwriter, political activist and philanthropist. After achieving moderate success in the late 1970s as part of the New wave music, new wave band the Tourists, she and fellow musician D ...

Collette Cooper Collette Cooper is a British singer/songwriter and actor from Manchester and lives in London. Career Collette Cooper is a singer/songwriter currently working on her debut album, ''City of Sin'', and has completed several music videos, Big Fat ...

, Babyshambles, Rufus Hound, Michael McIntyre, Miles Kane,

Professor Green Stephen Paul Manderson (born 27 November 1983), better known by his stage name Professor Green or simply Pro Green, is an English rapper, singer, songwriter, actor, television personality and mental health activist from London. Growing up on ...

, David Walliams, Texas,

Sophie Ellis-Bextor Sophie Michelle Ellis-Bextor (born 10 April 1979) is an English singer and songwriter. She first came to prominence in the late 1990s as the lead singer of the indie rock band Theaudience. After the group disbanded Ellis-Bextor went solo and ach ...

Alphabeat Alphabeat were a Danish pop band from Silkeborg, fronted by singers Stine Bramsen and Anders Stig Gehrt Nielsen. Their single " Fascination" was a major hit in Denmark during the summer of 2007, as well as the United Kingdom in 2008. Follow-up ...

, The Feeling, Eliza Doolittle, Nigel Kennedy, Kaiser Chiefs, David Arnold,

David McAlmont David Irving McAlmont (born 2 May 1967) is a British vocalist, essayist and art historian. He came to prominence in the 1990s as a singer, particularly through his collaboration with Bernard Butler. In the 2010s he returned to academia, working ...

, The Hoosiers, Armstrong & Miller, Howard Marks,

Jessica Hynes Tallulah Jessica Elina Hynes (''née'' Stevenson; born 30 October 1972) is an English actress, director and writer. Known professionally as Jessica Stevenson until 2007, she was one of the creators, writers and stars of the British sitcom ''Spac ...

The Boy With Tape on His Face Sam Wills (born 28 August 1978) is a Timaru, New Zealand prop comic, busker, and clown residing in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA. He performs under the name The Boy With Tape On His Face and, more recently, as Tape Face. He was also half of the two-p ...

, Leigh Francis, and

Rich Hall Richard Travis Hall (born June 10, 1954) is an American comedian, writer, documentary maker and musician, first coming to prominence as a sketch comedian in the 1980s. He wrote and performed for a range of American networks, in series such as ...

Pop ups

Ibiza

In 2012, the Groucho Club hosted a pop up in Ibiza from 16 to 28 August 2012 at Sa Talaia open to members and non-members. The pop up was to raise money for the Teenage Cancer Trust. From 18 to 22 August 2013, the Groucho Club hosted another Ibiza pop up at restored finca,

Pikes Hotel Pikes Hotel, now known as Pikes Ibiza, is a luxury hotel in Ibiza, in the Balearic Islands of Spain. It is located in the countryside, to the northeast of the town of Sant Antoni de Portmany, and to the northwest of Ibiza Town. A 15th-century ...

, in the North of Ibiza, in San Juan.

Hay Festival

Hay-on-Wye on the Welsh border is known as the 'town of books' and every year hosts the Hay Festival. The Groucho Club was invited to set up a temporary restaurant and bar in the Medieval

Hay Castle Hay Castle ( cy, Castell y Gelli) is a medieval fortification and 17th-century mansion house in the small town of Hay-on-Wye in Powys, Wales. Originally constructed as part of the Norman invasion of Wales, the castle was designed as a ringwork o ...

in the centre of town from 23 May to 2 June 2013. In 2014 the club popped up again at the festival from 23 May to 1 June 2014.

References

External links

Official website
{{Gentlemen's clubs in London Nightclubs in London Arts in London Buildings and structures in the City of Westminster Soho, London Marx Brothers Private members' clubs