Peter Cook (1937-95)

Charlotte Keech attended the first Establishment Club late night at Ronnie Scott’s and writes…

Comedy at London’s No. 1 jazz club? Hmph. But that’s exactly what happened last night (Wednesday 19th September) when Ronnie Scott’s late show gave a platform to Keith Allen and a string of comedians as part of Allen’s endeavor to re-establish The Establishment (the 60s Soho nightclub, founded by satirical genius Peter Cook).

Alongside the not especially memorable comic turns, George Galloway got in on the act telling the first joke of the evening and lecturing on free speech with Allen, a mime artist brought a interview of Judy Garland’s from 1963 back to life to stunning effect and a prodigiously talented and scarily young band sang covers from the era.

Last on, Terry Alderton was the comedy act that went down the best with the audience – surreal, moving and just plain funny. For most of the 2+ hour show the fabulous James Pearson Trio was on hand to provide musical help but they were sadly underused. THERE IS SECOND NIGHT TONIGHT.