... thanks to Moscow-backed RT

The satirical anarchy of Peter Cook’s Establishment Club is to be revived on TV – courtesy of the Russian government.

Keith Allen helped resurrect the name five years ago, launching a series of pop-up nights sticking to the ethos of the original 1960s satirical nightclub and with the blessing of Cook’s widow, Lin. 

Now the Moscow-funded RT network is to air a show based on those nights – and producers are launching a nationwide talent hunt for ‘angry’ voices to appear on the show.

Allen – who will present the RT programme along with other comedians – said: ‘The comedy circuit is in desperate need of a cattleprod in the bollocks, and to then be slapped about a bit with a fetid badger cadaver, just to make sure it’s fully alert. 

‘The Establishment Club is taking to the road to search for exciting new talent to deliver the beating the British comedy scene, kinky bugger that it is, so desperately craves. 

‘We want fresh voices- angry, passionate, original, razor sharp. We want state-of-the-nation stuff  – whether it’s anecdote or poetry, performance or something else that doesn’t fit any of the boxes. We aren’t interested in a dissertation on social justice, and if it’s a diatribe about the Daily Mail, it better be stroke-inducingly funny.’

To recruit the talent, producers including Victor Lewis Smith and Mike O’Brien, of the Laughing Stock comedy label, are going on a road trip in a Routemaster bus – kicking off in Bristol next Wednesday. It will then travel to Brighton, Edinburgh, Manchester and Newcastle. 

 Lewis Smith said they were ‘delighted’ to be working with the controversial broadcaster, adding: ‘In recent years, mainstream broadcasters seem to have given up on investing in edgy and boundary- pushing satire. 

‘Instead, support for bold new voices in comedy has come from a seemingly unlikely source – RT. Tom Walker is known for his strangely compelling spoof rants as fictional news reporter Jonathan Pie, a role that he first platformed on RT. Satirical current affairs show News Thing makes Have I Got News For You look like Blue Peter, just without the coked-up presenters. 

‘And now, The Establishment Club is delighted to be working with RT on a revival of its ground- breaking format. The legacy of Peter Cook has found a new home.’

Last year, Lewis Smith made a revealing BBC Four documentary about Cook after Lin allowed cameras into their Hampstead home for the first time since his death in 1995, and allowed access to the comic’s unseen archives. Lin died in November, aged 71.

Cook set up The Establishment in 1961 in Greek Street in Soho, then a seedy part of London. It featured uncensored, stand-up featuring radical and anarchic performers including Lenny Bruce, Barry Humphries and Frankie Howerd, whose appearance int he hip venue revived his flagging career, as well as jazz from Dudley Moore and guests.

Although it only existed for three years, the club was hugely influential part of the satire boom that included Private Eye and Beyond The Fringe and attracted luminaries such as EM Forster, Robert Mitchum, Jack Lemmon, Paul McCartney and George Melly to its audience.

Producers of the new show will be auditioning on their bus at the following locations: Bristol Anchor Square (August 9, 10am-6pm); Brighton Jubilee Library Square (August 15, 9.30am-6pm); Edinburgh Castle Street (August 23, 10.30am-6pm); Manchester Exchange Square (August 30, 10am-6pm); Newcastle Grainger Street (September 6, 10am-6pm).

The best performances will be posted on on the Establishment Club website. Alternatively, hopefuls will be able to submit performances via the site, est.club – although this is not yet live. 

Producers add: ‘Anyone and everyone with something to say on the state of the nation is invited to give it their best, but what is likely to make you stand out is having a unique take, or a routine that isn’t just an offshoot of the tired old political commentary of the day. Stand-up, poetry, song, sod it, we’ll even take interpretive dance or whale music. Just as long as it’s lung-collapsingly funny.

‘This is a fantastic opportunity to springboard a promising career. Successful auditions will get a chance to appear on the Establishment club’s new satirical television show, scheduled to appear on RT.’

The controversial broadcaster is often accused of disseminating misleading information, and has been reprimanded ten times by Ofcom, usually for bias in its reporting that toes the Moscow line.

No broadcast date has yet been set for the Establishment Club shows.

Here is Allen explaining what they are looking for:

Published: 3 Aug 2017