Tony Allen (born 4 March 1945) is an English

comedian A comedian or comic is a person who seeks to entertain an audience by making them laugh. This might be through jokes or amusing Amusement is the state of experiencing humorous and entertaining events or situations while the person or a ...

and writer. Best known as one of the original " alternative comedians", Tony Allen's artistic career had taken many radical turns before he temporarily abandoned his

Speakers' Corner A Speakers' Corner is an area where open-air public speaking, debate, and discussion are allowed. The original and best known is in the northeast corner of Hyde Park in London, England. Historically there were a number of other areas design ...

"Full-Frontal Anarchy Platform" in May 1979 for the stage of London's

Comedy Store The Comedy Store is an American comedy club opened in April 1972. It is located in West Hollywood, California, at 8433 Sunset Boulevard on the Sunset Strip. An associated club is located in La Jolla, San Diego, California. History The Comedy S ...

. Two months later he founded

Alternative Cabaret Alternative Cabaret was a collective of politically motivated performers and musicians. It was set up by Tony Allen and Alexei Sayle in the summer of 1979 shortly after they had met at the newly opened London Comedy Store. They quickly recruited c ...

with

Alexei Sayle Alexei David Sayle (born 7 August 1952) is an English actor, author, stand-up comedian, television presenter and former recording artist. He was a leading figure in the British alternative comedy movement in the 1980s. He was voted the 18th gr ...

and ran a regular "Alt Cab" Club night in the back bar of the Elgin pub on

Ladbroke Grove Ladbroke Grove () is an area and a road in West London in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, passing through Kensal Green and Notting Hill, running north–south between Harrow Road and Holland Park Avenue. It is also a name given to ...

Plays

In 1973, Allen was co-founder with John Miles of Rough Theatre and co-wrote and performed in all five of its productions. The most memorable was ''Dwelling Unit Sweet Dwelling Unit'' (1973)—which he later adapted for

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. It broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history from the BBC' ...

's ''Thirty-Minute Theatre'' (1977)—and ''Free Milk and Orange Juice'' (1976), which had a short run at the ICA. During the seventies Allen wrote three more radio plays including an Afternoon Theatre play, ''Two Fingers Finnegan Comes Again'', co-written with Vernon Magee and bespoke for the actor

Wilfrid Brambell Henry Wilfrid Brambell (22 March 1912 – 18 January 1985) was an Irish television and film actor, best remembered for playing the grubby rag-and-bone man Albert Steptoe alongside Harry H. Corbett in the long-running BBC television sitcom '' ...

. He went on to devise and write over twenty plays for fringe and community theatre, most memorably, ''Metropolitan'' with Ken Robinson, for the Young People's Theatre Scheme at The

Royal Court Theatre The Royal Court Theatre, at different times known as the Court Theatre, the New Chelsea Theatre, and the Belgravia Theatre, is a non-commercial West End theatre in Sloane Square, in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, London, Englan ...

; and various productions at The

Theatre Royal, Stratford East The Theatre Royal Stratford East is a 460 seat Victorian producing theatre in Stratford in the London Borough of Newham. Since 1953, it has been the home of the Theatre Workshop company, famously associated with director Joan Littlewood, whose s ...

, including their Christmas panto ''Robin Hood'' (1975), which he co-wrote with

Heathcote Williams John Henley Heathcote-Williams (15 November 1941 – 1 July 2017), known as Heathcote Williams, was an English poet, actor, political activist and dramatist. He wrote a number of book-length polemical poems including ''Autogeddon'', ''Falling ...

. He later co-wrote a television play with Ken Robinson—''Que Sera'' for TVS's ''

Dramarama Dramarama is an American, New Jersey–based alternative rock/power pop band, who later moved to Los Angeles. The band was formed in New Jersey in 1982 and disbanded in 1994. The band formally reunited in 2003 following an appearance on VH1's ...

''.

Journalism

Allen’s obsession with small press journalism led him into countless publishing ventures, most notoriously the vacant property bulletins of the "Ruff Tuff Creem Puff Estate Agency for Squatters", again with

(1975–76); the

monthly "Corrugated Times" (1976); "The New Instant" with Chris Saunders (1985), and the eighth re-launch of "

International Times ''International Times'' (''it'' or ''IT'') is the name of various underground newspapers, with the original title founded in London in 1966 and running until October 1973. Editors included John "Hoppy" Hopkins, David Mair ...

" (1986). Allen continued writing columns for radical journals, the most recent being “Lofty Tone” in the late 1990s DIY activist rag, ''Squall''.

Scripts

In the late eighties, Allen contributed regular scripts and prose to the youth comic magazines ''

Crisis A crisis ( : crises; : critical) is either any event or period that will (or might) lead to an unstable and dangerous situation affecting an individual, group, or all of society. Crises are negative changes in the human or environmental affair ...

'', ''

Revolver A revolver (also called a wheel gun) is a repeating handgun that has at least one barrel and uses a revolving cylinder containing multiple chambers (each holding a single cartridge) for firing. Because most revolver models hold up to six roun ...

'' and ''Judge Dredd - The Megazine''. Of particular interest was a 24-page graphic documentary with artist Dave Hine about events leading to the

Tiananmen Square massacre The Tiananmen Square protests, known in Chinese as the June Fourth Incident (), were student-led demonstrations held in Tiananmen Square, Beijing during 1989. In what is known as the Tiananmen Square Massacre, or in Chinese the June Fourth ...

. With his writing partner Max Handley (1945–1990) he was occasional script-writer for many TV and radio shows such as ''

Spitting Image ''Spitting Image'' is a British satirical television puppet show, created by Peter Fluck, Roger Law and Martin Lambie-Nairn. First broadcast in 1984, the series was produced by 'Spitting Image Productions' for Central Independent Television ov ...

'', ''

Naked Video ''Naked Video'' is a BBC Scotland sketch show that was aired on BBC2 from 12 May 1986 to 18 November 1991. The show was created by Colin Gilbert who had previously created ''A Kick Up the Eighties'' and ''Naked Radio'' (the latter being a radio ...

'', ''

Week Ending ''Week Ending'' was a satirical radio current affairs sketch show broadcast on BBC Radio 4 between 1970 and 1998. It was devised by writer-producers Simon Brett and David Hatch and was originally hosted by '' Nationwide'' presenter Michael B ...

'' and ''

Alas Smith and Jones ''Alas Smith and Jones'' is a British comedy sketch television series starring comedy duo and namesake Mel Smith and Griff Rhys Jones that originally ran for four series and two Christmas specials on BBC2 from 1984 to 1988, and later as ''Smi ...

''. Allen and Handley were also responsible for the words to the daily three-frame comic strip "Soho Square" in the short-lived ''

London Daily News The ''London Daily News'' was a short-lived London newspaper owned by Robert Maxwell. It was published from 24 February to 23 July 1987. History The ''London Daily News'' was intended to be a "24-hour" paper challenging the local dominance of t ...

''; Pete Rigg was the cartoonist.

TV work

He played an anarchist named Fisher in the first-series episode of '' The Young Ones'', entitled "

Interesting Interest is a feeling or emotion that causes attention to focus on an object, event, or process. In contemporary psychology of interest, the term is used as a general concept that may encompass other more specific psychological terms, such as c ...

" (1982). In 1989 and 1990, Allen and

Caron Keating Caron Louisa Keating (5 October 1962 – 13 April 2004) was a Northern Irish television presenter. Early life and education Keating was born on 5 October 1962 in Fulham, west London, to an English father with southern Irish roots and a Northern ...

co-presented the

Granada TV ITV Granada, formerly known as Granada Television, is the ITV franchisee for the North West of England and Isle of Man. From 1956 to 1968 it broadcast to both the north west and Yorkshire but only on weekdays as ABC Weekend Television was it ...

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned enterprise, state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a four ...

science-based programme ''Fourth Dimension'', which included performing (and co-writing with Handley) a weekly five-minute

piece to camera In television and film, a piece to camera (PTC) is when a television presenter or a character speaks directly to the viewing audience through the camera. Details It is most common when a news or television show presenter is reporting or explai ...

, plus other filmed journalism. In ''The Heckler'', Allen was seen in a mentoring role to a couple of trainee

heckler A heckler is a person who harasses and tries to disconcert others with questions, challenges, or gibes. Hecklers are often known to shout encouraging comments at a performance or event, or to interrupt set-piece speeches, with the intent of di ...

s, as the central theme for BBC3 TV's documentary about the history of political heckling at the

husting A husting originally referred to a native Germanic governing assembly, the thing. By metonymy, the term may now refer to any event (such as debates or speeches) during an election campaign where one or more of the candidates are present. Deve ...

s, coinciding with the 2005 General Election.

Stand-up comedy

Affectionately known as the godfather of

alternative comedy Alternative comedy is a term coined in the 1980s for a style of comedy that makes a conscious break with the mainstream comedic style of an era. The phrase has had different connotations in different contexts: in the UK, it was used to describe ...

, Allen was resident comedian in the early days of

The Comedy Store, London The Comedy Store is a comedy club located in Soho, London, England, opened in 1979 by Don Ward and Peter Rosengard.Alexei Sayle Alexei David Sayle (born 7 August 1952) is an English actor, author, stand-up comedian, television presenter and former recording artist. He was a leading figure in the British alternative comedy movement in the 1980s. He was voted the 18th gr ...

as resident MC early in 1981.Connor, John (1990). Ten Years of Alternative Comedy. PAPERMAC. ISBN 0-333-54171-5. In 1980, Tony Allen and Alexei Sayle took their solo stand-up acts to the

Edinburgh Festival 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 ...

under the title "Late Night Alternative". Allen continued to appear on the Edinburgh Fringe for the next twelve years. Most successful was his "1984 Meaning of Life Crusade", with Sharon Landau and Roy Hutchins. In 1989, he acted the role of Clopin, King of the Thieves in Max Handley's stage musical ''Quasimodo''. In the early eighties, Allen supported rock bands, including

Killing Joke Killing Joke are an English rock music, rock band from Notting Hill, London, England, formed in 1979 by Jaz Coleman (vocals, keyboards), Paul Ferguson (drums), Geordie Walker (guitar) and Youth (musician), Youth (bass). Their first album, ''Ki ...

Theatre Royal, Drury Lane The Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, commonly known as Drury Lane, is a West End theatre and Grade I listed building in Covent Garden, London, England. The building faces Catherine Street (earlier named Bridges or Brydges Street) and backs onto Dr ...

(1980) and

The Clash The Clash were an English rock band formed in London in 1976 who were key players in the original wave of British punk rock. Billed as "The Only Band That Matters", they also contributed to the and new wave movements that emerged in the wa ...

at Portsmouth Town Hall (1981). He also supported anarcho-punk band

Poison Girls The Poison Girls were an English anarcho-punk band from Brighton. The singer/guitarist, Vi Subversa, was a middle-aged mother of two at the band's inception, and wrote songs that explored sexuality and gender roles, often from an anarchist pers ...

on two national "No Nukes Music" tours. In the late eighties, he was a founder member of Green Wedge, and performed in a series of one-off benefit gigs as MC/support to, among others,

John Martyn Iain David McGeachy (11 September 1948 – 29 January 2009), known professionally as John Martyn, was a Scottish singer-songwriter and guitarist. Over a 40-year career, he released 23 studio albums, and received frequent critical acclaim. ...

Osibisa Osibisa are a Ghanaian-British Afro-Rock band founded in London in the late 1960s by four expatriate West African and three London based Caribbean musicians. Osibisa were the most successful and longest lived of the African-heritage bands in ...

and

Joe Strummer John Graham Mellor (21 August 1952 – 22 December 2002), known professionally as Joe Strummer, was a British singer, musician and songwriter. He was the co-founder, lyricist, rhythm guitarist and co-lead vocalist of punk rock band the Clash, ...

's Latino Rockabilly War. In 1990, Allen toured extensively with his solo show "Sold Out", about an Amazonian tribal

shaman Shamanism is a religious practice that involves a practitioner (shaman) interacting with what they believe to be a spirit world through altered states of consciousness, such as trance. The goal of this is usually to direct spirits or spiritu ...

who understands both the workings of the

futures exchange A futures exchange or futures market is a central financial exchange where people can trade standardized futures contracts defined by the exchange. Futures contracts are derivatives contracts to buy or sell specific quantities of a commodity or f ...

and the logic of

Heisenberg Werner Karl Heisenberg () (5 December 1901 – 1 February 1976) was a German theoretical physicist and one of the main pioneers of the theory of quantum mechanics. He published his work in 1925 in a breakthrough paper. In the subsequent series ...

Uncertainty Principle In quantum mechanics, the uncertainty principle (also known as Heisenberg's uncertainty principle) is any of a variety of mathematical inequalities asserting a fundamental limit to the accuracy with which the values for certain pairs of physic ...

. A truncated version of the Heisenberg piece was also featured on Granada TV's ''Fourth Dimension''. Economics, viewed as a bogus science for scam artists causing both personal and planetary debt, was one of the subjects tackled in his full-length stand-up Edinburgh show "Final Demand - The Grim Repo Man is at the Door" in 1993. In 1994, Allen teamed up again with Sharon Landau and Roy Hutchins for a season of live cabaret gigs, "Ain't Necessarily Solo". His last solo show before semi-retirement was "The End is Nigh", a mischievous piece of panic-mongering about the

Y2K The year 2000 problem, also known as the Y2K problem, Y2K scare, millennium bug, Y2K bug, Y2K glitch, Y2K error, or simply Y2K refers to potential computer errors related to the formatting and storage of calendar data for dates in and after ...

bug which took the form of a public meeting, and had its final performance, pertinently, at

in October 1999, before he went to live in the hills of

Cumbria Cumbria ( ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in North West England, bordering Scotland. The county and Cumbria County Council, its local government, came into existence in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972. Cumb ...

for a year.

Workshops

Tony Allen started teaching stand-up comedy in 1982. From the late eighties to the mid-nineties, he was a regular workshop tutor with the drama department of

Middlesex University Middlesex University London (legally Middlesex University and abbreviated MDX) is a public research university in Hendon, northwest London, England. The name of the university is taken from its location within the historic county boundaries ...

. Since 2003 he has had a similar relationship with the drama department at the

University of Kent , motto_lang = , mottoeng = Literal translation: 'Whom to serve is to reign'(Book of Common Prayer translation: 'whose service is perfect freedom')Graham Martin, ''From Vision to Reality: the Making of the University of Kent at Canterbury'' ...

working with ex-comic Dr. Oliver Double. Allen has been the Artistic Director of New Agenda Arts Trust since June 1995. Late in 1995, New Agenda launched the "Performance Club" to promote innovative performers and to showcase emerging workshop talent. In 2005, The Performance Club took up a two-year residency at the Inn On The Green, London W11. Most notable among the regular performers was

Ken Campbell Kenneth Victor Campbell (10 December 1941 – 31 August 2008) was an English actor, writer and director known for his work in experimental theatre. He has been called "a one-man dynamo of British theatre". Campbell achieved notoriety in the 1 ...

Publications

''Attitude! Wanna Make Something of it? The Secret of Stand-up Comedy'' – published by Gothic Image (2002).

''A Summer in the Park. A Journal of Speakers’ Corner'' – published by

Freedom Press Freedom Press is an anarchist publishing house and bookseller in Whitechapel, London, United Kingdom. Founded in 1886, it is the largest anarchist publishing house in the country and the oldest of its kind in the English speaking world. It is bas ...

(2004)

Sound recordings

''One of Our Safety Valves is Missing'' – a 45-minute recorded live stage act produced by John Williams for Red Tapes (1980).

''Alternative Cabaret'' – an album showcasing four alternative comedians: Tony Allen, Jim Barclay,

Pauline Melville Pauline Melville FRSL (born 1948) is an English/Guyanese-born writer and former actor of mixed European and Amerindian ancestry, who is currently based in London, England. Among awards she has received for her writing – which encompasses short ...

and

Andy de la Tour Andy de la Tour (born 1948) is an English actor and screenwriter. In films he appeared in '' Plenty'', ''Notting Hill'', the Roman Polanski's ''Oliver Twist'', '' 44 Inch Chest'', and '' The Confessions'', and in television '' The Young Ones'' ...

(1981).

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Allen, Tony 1945 births Living people people from Hayes, Hillingdon 20th-century English comedians 21st-century English comedians English male comedians Squatters