Do you love a queer punch up too? The comedic kind of course.

Lucie Isle's first gig was in the basement of an Italian restaurant in Edinburgh, during the fringe:

Back then I was presenting as a straight guy, and performing routines about how terrible my hometown was. I stopped performing for a while as I went on other adventures, but after an 8-year, hiatus, I’m back as a transgender woman."

This week, comedian Lucie Isle takes us on a trip to the 80s where, set against a backdrop of an HIV/AIDS moral panic, a comedy scene emerged as a direct challenge to the widespread racism, sexism and homophobia in the press and wider society.

The diverse 80s comedy scene began as underground, grassroots Alternative Cabaret, with stilt walkers, drag acts, prop comics, sketch troupes and stand up on a regular old lineup. But this underground alt-punk comedy scene that challenged the punch-down culture is still alive today. Lucie Isle and co-host Jamal Utting explore it's roots, as well as having a right old giggle along the way:

• Meet Dr Olly Double, reader in Comic and Popular Performance at the University of Kent to hear about the scene's roots
•  Jeremy Topp, comedian, host and co-owner of The Queer Comedy Club in London - the UK's only dedicated queer comedy venue
• Plus a modern analysis of this, and the queer comedy and cabaret scene now with Lauren Bryant, aka the Punk King of Drag, Will Power.

Read more stories from Trans+ History Week:

• https://www.wearequeeraf.com/transhistoryweek/

Here is the article we recommended:

• https://www.wearequeeraf.com/how-section-28-and-sex-ed-denied-us-knowledge-crucial-to-our-lives/

Plus, be sure to sign up for our newsletter to understand the LGBTQIA+ news every Saturday:

• https://www.wearequeeraf.com/subscribe/

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