About AltComedy.com

AltComedy.com is an independent editorial site about alternative comedy: the performers, scenes, shows and ideas that grew up outside the mainstream comedy business and keep reshaping it. We launched in 2025 with a simple aim, which is to be the most useful, accurate and enjoyable place on the web to learn about this kind of comedy, whether you're coming to it for the first time or you've been going to basement shows for twenty years.

This page explains what we cover, who writes it, how we check our work, how we fix mistakes and how the site is paid for. If anything here is unclear, get in touch.

Why this site exists

Alternative comedy has a long, tangled history. In Britain it means the scene that formed around the Comedy Store and the Comic Strip at the turn of the 1980s. In the United States it usually means the rooms of the 1990s, such as Un-Cabaret in Los Angeles and Luna Lounge in New York, and the people who came out of them. Today the label stretches across anti-comedy, surreal sketch, confessional storytelling, character work, musical comedy and internet-native video.

A lot of what's written about this comedy online is scattered, thin or simply wrong: misattributed quotes, invented "facts" repeated from one listicle to the next, and summaries of specials by people who clearly never watched them. We want to do better. Our pages try to answer the question you actually came with, explain why a performer or show matters, and point you to the best place to start.

What we cover

The site is organised into five sections, which you can reach from the menu at the top of every page:

• History & Scenes: how alternative comedy started and changed, decade by decade and city by city, from the British alternative scene to the key dates in the American one.
• Comedians: profiles of the performers who define the form, from pioneers like Andy Kaufman to current names, with an emphasis on where to start watching.
• Shows & Specials: guides and rankings of the series, specials, albums and sketches worth your time.
• Craft & Career: practical guides for people who make comedy, such as starting out, writing an hour or self-releasing a special.
• Essays & Ideas: longer pieces on what comedy does, why it works and where it's heading.

If you're new, our explainer What is alternative comedy? is the best place to begin. Our FAQ answers the most common questions in a few lines each.

Editorial standards

All articles are written and edited by the AltComedy Editors. We publish under one shared byline rather than individual names. That's a deliberate choice: the byline is a promise that every page meets the same standards, not a claim about a large staff. We don't invent team members, testimonials or credentials, and you won't find any on this site.

These are the rules we write by:

• Accuracy first. Dates, titles, networks and collaborators should be right. When we can't confirm a detail, we say less rather than guess. We'd rather write "in the late 1990s" than give you a month we aren't sure of.
• No invented sources. We don't make up quotes, experts, studies, statistics or events. When we quote a real person, the quote is short, attributed and verifiable.
• Fairness to real people. Our profiles of living comedians stick to their public work and well-documented facts. We use people's current names and pronouns. We don't speculate about health, relationships or private lives, and we cover controversies briefly and factually.
• Respect for the work. Comedy is copyrighted writing. We describe and analyse bits, sketches and songs in our own words rather than reproducing them, and we encourage you to watch or listen to the originals.
• Opinions with reasons. Rankings and recommendations are our editorial judgement. We try to explain why we rate something, so you can disagree with us on the merits.
• Dates you can trust. Every article shows when it was last updated. We avoid phrases like "this year" that go stale, or we date them explicitly.

Some pages carry illustrative images. These are illustrations, not photographs, and we never present them as photos of real people.

Fact-checking and corrections

Before a page goes up, we check its specific claims (release years, broadcasters, award wins, venue histories) against reliable sources such as official sites, broadcaster and publisher information, and established reference works. Pages about fast-moving subjects, like recent specials and emerging comedians, get re-checked when we update them.

We still get things wrong sometimes. When we do:

1. Tell us through the contact form, choosing Correction as the topic. Include the page address, what you think is wrong and, if possible, a source.
2. We review every correction request and check it against sources.
3. If we made an error of fact, we fix the page and update its "Updated" date. Where a correction changes the meaning of a page in a significant way, we note the change on the page.
4. We don't change pages because someone dislikes an opinion, but we're happy to hear a good argument.

Independence and advertising

AltComedy.com is independent. No comedian, agent, venue, festival, network or streaming platform owns, funds or reviews what we publish before it goes up.

The site is paid for by advertising served through Google AdSense. We don't sell products, run paid memberships, take donations, host events or publish sponsored articles. That keeps the arrangement simple:

• Ads are chosen and served automatically by Google. Our editors don't pick which ads appear next to which article, and advertisers have no say over our coverage.
• Ads are labelled as advertisements and kept visually separate from editorial content.
• We don't accept payment or any other benefit in exchange for writing about someone. If that ever changes, we will disclose it clearly on the page concerned.
• Links to comedians' sites, streaming services or publishers are there because they're useful to you. They aren't affiliate links, and we don't earn a commission from them.

Ads and analytics involve cookies. Our privacy policy and cookie policy explain exactly what is collected and how to control it. Visitors in the EEA, the UK and Switzerland are asked for consent through Google's consent message before personalised ads are shown.

What we don't do

To be clear about what AltComedy.com is and isn't:

• We don't run a podcast, forum, community platform or shop.
• We don't organise shows, festivals or events, and we don't sell tickets.
• We don't represent or book comedians.

We're a reading site, and we'd rather do that one thing well than pad the menu with features that don't exist. Pages such as our podcast and shop guides point you to real podcasts, albums and books made by other people.

How to reach us

The best way to reach the editors is the contact form. Use it to report an error, suggest a comedian or topic we should cover, ask about advertising, make a privacy request or just tell us what you think. We read every message.

If you'd like to help the site, our help & support page explains how to get the most out of it and a few simple ways to support it. Thanks for reading.

Frequently asked questions

Who writes AltComedy.com?

Everything on the site is written and edited by the AltComedy Editors, a small editorial team. We publish under a shared byline rather than individual names, and the standards on this page apply to every article.

Is AltComedy.com affiliated with any comedian, venue or streaming service?

No. We are independent. No comedian, club, festival, network or streaming platform owns, funds or approves what we publish.

How is the site funded?

By display advertising served through Google AdSense. We don't sell products, run paid memberships or take payment for coverage.

How do I report a mistake?

Use the contact form and choose the Correction topic. Tell us the page, what's wrong and, if you can, a source. We review every correction request.