Pioneering comedian Tony Allen has died.
Allen was one of the founders of the alternative comedy movement in the late 1970s. He was always on the more radical, unconventional side and as others such as Rik Mayall and Adrian Edmondson moved into the mainstream he stuck rigidly to his anarchic roots, becoming known as the godfather of alternative comedy.
According to Wikipedia he was 78. He was one of the first comperes at the original Comedy Store in Soho and ran his own comedy nights at the Elgin pub in Ladbroke Grove.
Tall and with a big shock of black hair (later a slightly less big shock of white hair) he was always a distinctive presence and did make some TV appearances, most notably in The Young Ones. He was on one of the first programmes to document the alternative comedy explosion, Boom, Boom...Out Go The Lights and worked on a number of projects with Alexei Sayle.
Along with Sayle he was one of the first comedians from his generation to go to the Edinburgh Fringe to perform and he later taught comedy courses to aspiring stand-ups.
Allen had been ill for a while and there had even been a wake for him in his West London manor while he was still alive. Alexei Sayle and John Hegley were among those that paid tribute at the show.
He set out his uncompromising philosophy in the book Attitude: W
Alternative comedy was absurdist and political. Mayall + Sayle if you like. Years before they came to London, Tony Allen was mining both seams, combining the best of situationist French comedy with the politics of Lenny Bruce to create something uniquely British. #RIP...Hard to explain the importance of Tony Allen on the world of alternative comedy. His impact was enormous. Everyone you've ever heard of, from Alexei Sayle and Rik Mayall onwards, owed a debt of gratitude to Tony. #RIP"
Philip Ralph posted on X: "Man, Mr Death has been busy these past two days… Tony Allen, founder of Alternative Cabaret and a seminal figure in British comedy, has died. His two books are master classes on stand up and the art of telling the truth. He changed the way we laugh. RIP."
Heio Khoo posted: "Tony Allen Speakers' Corner veteran, anarchist, a founding father of modern comedy and a prolific squatter died today. Here an interview with him on the heyday of the London squatters' movement." Listen here.
Tony Allen's book on stand-up comedy contains a story about buying a gay porn mag while dressed as a clown which, while I don't really believe it, was nonetheless extremely funny. RIP."
Buy Tony Allen: Attitude here.
Watch part of his wake - entitled This Was Your Life – below
