The Establishment was a

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

nightclub A nightclub (music club, discothèque, disco club, or simply club) is an entertainment venue during nighttime comprising a dance floor, lightshow, and a stage for live music or a disc jockey (DJ) who plays recorded music. Nightclubs gen ...

that opened in October 1961, at 18 Greek Street,

Soho Soho is an area of the City of Westminster, part of the West End of London. Originally a fashionable district for the aristocracy, it has been one of the main entertainment districts in the capital since the 19th century. The area was deve ...

, and which became known in retrospect for

satire Satire is a genre of the visual, literary, and performing arts, usually in the form of fiction and less frequently non-fiction, in which vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, often with the intent of shaming o ...

although at the time was a venue more commonly booking jazz acts and used for other events. It was founded by Peter Cook and Nicholas Luard, both of whom were also important in the history of the magazine '' Private Eye''. The name "The Establishment" is a play on the meaning of "establishment" as in "institution," i.e. the club itself, and the broader definition meaning the prevailing social order of the time, which the satirists who founded, funded and performed at the club typically undermined. A pun is suggested as, to be a member of this club, was to literally but not figuratively be a "member of the establishment". Peter Cook called it "the only good title I ever came up with." The venue allowed the opportunity for budding comedians and satirists to perform new material in a nightclub setting, outside the jurisdiction of the

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, whose censorship of language and content was a problem for many performers. Some who appeared included

Lenny Bruce Leonard Alfred Schneider (October 13, 1925 – August 3, 1966), known professionally as Lenny Bruce, was an American stand-up comedian, social critic, and satirist. He was renowned for his open, free-wheeling, and critical style of comedy which ...

in 1962 (subsequently banned from entering the UK a year later), Barry Humphries (as

Edna Everage Dame Edna Everage, often known simply as Dame Edna, is a character created and performed by Australian comedian Barry Humphries, known for her lilac-coloured ("wisteria hue") hair and cat eye glasses ("face furniture"); her favourite flower, th ...

), and musically, The Dudley Moore Trio. ''The Establishment'', a tie-in album of comedy routines and sketches featuring John Bird, John Fortune,

Eleanor Bron Eleanor Bron (born 14 March 1938) is an English stage, film and television actress, and an author. Her film roles include Ahme in the Beatles musical '' Help!'' (1965), the Doctor in '' Alfie'' (1966), Margaret Spencer in '' Bedazzled'' (1967), ...

and

Jeremy Geidt Charles Jeremy Wollaston Geidt (25 February 1930 – 6 August 2013) was a British-born American stage actor, comedian and acting coach. He was a Professor of Acting at Yale University, and later at Harvard University, being a founding member of b ...

, was released on the Parlophone label in 1963. A second club was established in

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in 1963. However, both folded after only a few years. The Establishment in London closed in 1964.

Legacy

In March 2008, the site of the club was renamed Zebrano's but after a small group of Peter Cook devotees, Sally Western, Jonathan Hansler and Robert Ross, pressured the management for some recognition of the old club's importance in satire, the owners agreed to place "The Establishment" in writing above the door. A

green plaque A blue plaque is a permanent sign installed in a public place in the United Kingdom and elsewhere to commemorate a link between that location and a famous person, event, or former building on the site, serving as a historical marker. The term i ...

was also positioned above the door by Westminster City Council after campaigning by the same group. The Establishment was referenced in the book '' Stop-Time'' by author Frank Conroy. The book is a semi-autobiographical account of Conroy's own life, and he mentions getting drunk at The Establishment, and then racing his car home to his apartment outside London while he was living in England with his wife in the '60s. The Establishment also featured briefly in the semi-fictional Peter Cook and Dudley Moore biopic '' Not Only But Always'' (2004); seen only in an exterior shot, it bore no resemblance to 18 Greek Street.

External links

Peter Cook plaque unveiling Feb 15th 2009 - The old Establishment Club"Peter Cook & Clives James - The Establishment Club"
Video of Peter Cook reminiscing, extract from Clive James' ''Postcard from London''. {{DEFAULTSORT:Establishment 1961 establishments in England 1964 disestablishments in England Music venues completed in 1961 Nightclubs in London Soho, London Greek Street Defunct nightclubs in the United Kingdom Former music venues in London