The Cambridge Footlights, commonly referred to simply as Footlights, is a student

sketch comedy Sketch comedy comprises a series of short, amusing scenes or vignettes, called "sketches" or, "skits", commonly between one and ten minutes long, performed by a group of comic actors or comedians. While the form developed and became popular in ...

troupe located in

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. Footlights was founded in 1883, and is one of Britain's oldest student sketch comedy troupes. The comedy society is run by the students of the

University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

History

Footlights' inaugural performance took place in June 1883. For some months before the name "Footlights" was chosen, the group had performed to local audiences in the

area (once, with a cricket match included, at the "pauper lunatic asylum"). They wished to go wider than the Cambridge University Amateur Dramatic Club (ADC), founded in 1855, with its membership drawn largely from Trinity College, and its theatre seating only 100. They were to perform every May Week at the Theatre Royal, Barnwell, Cambridge, the shows soon open to the public. A local paper commended the club's appeal to the "general public, the many different classes of which life in Cambridge is made up". The club grew in prominence in the 1960s as a hotbed of comedy and satire, and established a permanent home in the basement of the Cambridge Union. Having established a tradition of performing at the annual Edinburgh Festival Fringe, the club entered the mainstream when its members formed half of '' Beyond the Fringe'', the hugely popular stage revue which toured Britain and America in 1960. The 1963 revue then followed in the footsteps of ''Beyond the Fringe'', appearing in Edinburgh and London's West End, before travelling to

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

and the United States, where it made appearances on Broadway and '' The Ed Sullivan Show'' and received a full-page review in ''

Time Time is the continuous progression of existence that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, and into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequ ...

''. The first woman to be given full membership was Germaine Greer. She joined in October 1964 on the same day as

Clive James Clive James (born Vivian Leopold James; 7 October 1939 – 24 November 2019) was an Australian critic, journalist, broadcaster, writer and lyricist who lived and worked in the United Kingdom from 1962 until his death in 2019.Russell Davies. There had been women before that time who had been allowed to join in, including Eleanor Bron in the late 1950s, but Greer was the first to be billed as a full member. Apparently

Tim Brooke-Taylor Timothy Julian Brooke-Taylor (17 July 194012 April 2020) was an English actor and comedian. He was best known as a member of The Goodies. Brooke-Taylor became active in performing in comedy sketches while at the University of Cambridge and beca ...

was instrumental in having women admitted. She was part of the Footlights' 1965 revue ''My Girl Herbert''. Over the next decade, Footlights members came to dominate British comedy in the 1970s, creating and starring in shows such as '' Not Only... But Also'', ''

I'm Sorry, I'll Read That Again ''I'm Sorry, I'll Read That Again'' (often abbreviated as ''ISIRTA'') was a BBC radio comedy programme that was developed from the 1964 University of Cambridge, Cambridge University Footlights revue, ''Cambridge Circus (comedy), Cambridge Circus ...

'', '' At Last the 1948 Show'', '' That Was the Week That Was and

The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy ''The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy'' is a Science fiction comedy, comedy science fiction franchise created by Douglas Adams. Originally a The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (radio series), radio sitcom broadcast over two series on BBC ...

'', forming comedy groups such as Monty Python and The Goodies, and generally fuelling the satire boom. During the 1980s, Footlights reinforced its position at the heart of British comedy. The 1981 revue, featuring Emma Thompson, Hugh Laurie,

Stephen Fry Sir Stephen John Fry (born 24 August 1957) is an English actor, broadcaster, comedian, director, narrator and writer. He came to prominence as a member of the comic act Fry and Laurie alongside Hugh Laurie, with the two starring in ''A Bit of ...

, Tony Slattery, Penny Dwyer and Paul Shearer, won the inaugural Perrier Award at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and spawned Fry and Laurie, the first in a long line of popular and successful double acts formed at the club including Armstrong and Miller and Mitchell and Webb. Their revue, The Cellar Tapes, at St Mary Street Hall was billed as "the annual revue: one of the strongest casts for several years, has already toured in southern England with great success." Former members have gone on to win Oscars,

BAFTA The British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA, ) is an independent trade association and charity that supports, develops, and promotes the arts of film, television and video games in the United Kingdom. In addition to its annual awa ...

s and other awards and enjoy success in the entertainment industry.

Activities

During term, Footlights produce the regular "Smokers"—an informal mixture of sketches and stand-up—at the ADC Theatre. The club also produces the annual Pantomime (in collaboration with ADC and the Spring Revue, as well as staging the winning entry of the Footlights Harry Porter Prize; a competition in which any student at the university may enter a one-hour comic play. The Footlights International Tour Show takes place from June until October, and travels to Cambridge, London, Edinburgh and venues across the United States. For information about individual Footlights revues, see Cambridge Footlights Revue.

Membership

Potential members apply to the organization at two times during the year, once at the end of the university's Lent term and the other at the beginning of the university's Michaelmas term. Students who study at the

and Anglia Ruskin University are able to apply for membership. Students must be at least in the third year or above in their undergraduate studies to apply for membership. Postgraduate students are also eligible to apply to be members of the Footlights comedy society.

Former members

This is a list of former members of Footlights who achieved notability after graduating from the

Presidents

The elected leader of the University of Cambridge Footlights Dramatic Club is known as the president, who is assisted by a vice-president, treasurer, archivist and several other posts to form the committee. Notable past presidents have included the following: * Peter Cook (of '' Beyond the Fringe'', '' Pete and Dud'' and '' Not Only... But Also'') *

(of '' The Goodies'', ''

'' and '' I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue'') * Graeme Garden (of ''The Goodies'', ''I'm Sorry, I'll Read That Again'' and ''I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue'') * Eric Idle (of Monty Python) *

Clive James Clive James (born Vivian Leopold James; 7 October 1939 – 24 November 2019) was an Australian critic, journalist, broadcaster, writer and lyricist who lived and worked in the United Kingdom from 1962 until his death in 2019.''Cultural Amnesia'' and ''Unreliable Memoirs'') * Clive Anderson (of '' Whose Line Is It Anyway?'') * Jan Ravens (of '' Dead Ringers''), the first woman president * Hugh Laurie (of '' Fry and Laurie'', '' Jeeves and Wooster'' and ''

House A house is a single-unit residential building. It may range in complexity from a rudimentary hut to a complex structure of wood, masonry, concrete or other material, outfitted with plumbing, electrical, and heating, ventilation, and air c ...

'') * Tony Slattery (of '' Whose Line Is It Anyway?'') * Neil Mullarkey (of Austin Powers) *

Sue Perkins Susan Elizabeth Perkins (born 22 September 1969) is an English actress, broadcaster, comedian, presenter and writer. Originally coming to prominence through her comedy partnership with Mel Giedroyc in ''Mel and Sue'', she progressed into radio a ...

(of '' The Great British Bake Off'' and ''

Mel and Sue Mel Giedroyc (born 5 June 1968) and Sue Perkins (born 22 September 1969), known collectively as Mel and Sue, are an English comedy double act. They are known for hosting the BAFTA Award-winning BBC One cookery series '' The Great British ...

'') * David Mitchell (of '' That Mitchell and Webb Look'' and '' Peep Show'') * Robert Thorogood (creator of BBC One's '' Death in Paradise'') *

Richard Ayoade Richard Ayoade ( ; born 23 May 1977) is a British comedian, actor, writer, director and presenter. He played the role of socially awkward IT technician Maurice Moss in Channel 4 sitcom ''The IT Crowd'' (2006–2013), for which he won the 2014 Br ...

(of '' Garth Marenghi's Darkplace'' and '' The IT Crowd'') * Simon Bird (of '' The Inbetweeners'' and ''

Friday Night Dinner ''Friday Night Dinner'' is a British sitcom created by Robert Popper that aired on Channel 4 from 25 February 2011 to 1 May 2020. Starring Tamsin Greig, Paul Ritter, Simon Bird, Tom Rosenthal, and Mark Heap, it follows the regular Friday ...

'')

List of presidents

* 1886 – F. W. Mortimer * 1887 – J. J. Withers * 1890 – Oscar Browning * 1891 – C. M. Rae * 1892 – Oscar Browning * 1894 – Oscar Browning * 1895 – Oscar Browning * 1896 – H. C. Pollitt * 1897 – H. C. Pollitt * 1898 – M. V. Leveaux * 1899 – S. W. Burgess * 1900 – O. J. Goedecker * 1901 – R. J. White * 1902 – E. K. Fordham * 1904 – G. S. Heathcote * 1905 – G. S. Heathcote * 1906 – H. Rottenburg * 1907 – H. Rottenburg * 1908 – J. S. Murray * 1909 – L. B. Tillard * 1910 – A. R. Inglis * 1911 – A. R. Inglis * 1912 – P. D. Ravenscroft * 1913 – C. A. A. Douglas Hamilton * 1914 – M. Cutherston * 1919 – B. D. Nicholson * 1920 – B. D. Nicholson * 1921 – M. D. Lyon * 1922 – M. D. Lyon * 1923 – F. E. Powell * 1924 – J. A. C. Barradale * 1925 – H. J. Warrender * 1926 – J. D. Houison Craufurd * 1927 – H. C. Martineau * 1928 – H. E. R. Mitchell * 1929 – J. Fell Clark * 1930 – J. C. Byrom * 1931 – R. S. Hill * 1932 – P. E. Lyon * 1933 – J. A. Coates * 1934 – Lord Killanin * 1935 – Harry Lee * 1936 – Peter Crane * 1937 – Albert E. P. Robison * 1938 – P. B. Meyer * 1939 – Sir Robert Ricketts, Bt. * 1947 – D. C. Orders * 1948 – D. C. Orders * 1949 – Simon Phipps * 1950 – Adrian Vale * 1951 – Ian Kellie * 1952 – Andrew Davidson * 1953 – Peter Firth * 1954 – Leslie Bricusse * 1955 – Brian Marber * 1956 – Tim Berington * 1957 – Allan Mitchell * 1958 – Peter Stroud * 1959 – Adrian Slade * 1960 – Peter Cook * 1961 – Peter Bellwood * 1962 – Robert Atkins * 1963 –

* 1964 – Graeme Garden * 1965 – Eric Idle * 1966 – Andrew Mayer * 1967 –

Clive James Clive James (born Vivian Leopold James; 7 October 1939 – 24 November 2019) was an Australian critic, journalist, broadcaster, writer and lyricist who lived and worked in the United Kingdom from 1962 until his death in 2019.Jonathan James-Moore * 1969 – Barry Brown * 1970 – Adrian Edwards * 1971 – Richard MacKenna * 1972 – Steve Thorn * 1973 – Robert Benton * 1974 – Jon Canter * 1975 – Clive Anderson * 1976 – Chris Keightley * 1977 – Jimmy Mulville * 1978 – Martin Bergman * 1979 – Robert Bathurst * 1980 – Jan Ravens * 1981 – Hugh Laurie * 1982 – Tony Slattery * 1983 – Neil Mullarkey * 1984 – Nick Hancock * 1985 – Kathryn Crew * 1986 – Nick Golson * 1987 – Tim Scott * 1988 – Peter Bradshaw * 1989 – Roland Kenyon * 1990 – Henry Naylor * 1991 –

* 1992 – Dan Gaster * 1993 – Mark Evans * 1994 – Robert Thorogood * 1995 – Charlie Hartill * 1996 – David Mitchell * 1997 – Sarah Moule * 1998 –

* 1999 – Kevin Baker * 2000 – Matt Green * 2001 – James Morris * 2002 – Ed Weeks * 2003 – Stefan Golaszewski * 2004 – Ed Riches * 2005 – Raph Shirley * 2006 – Simon Bird * 2007 – Will Sharpe * 2008 – Sam Sword * 2009 – Alastair Roberts * 2010 – Abi Tedder * 2011 – Mark Fiddaman * 2012 – Phil Wang * 2013 – Harry Michell * 2014 – Ben Pope * 2015 – Thomas Roper Fraser * 2016 – Oliver Taylor * 2017 – Dillon Mapletoft * 2018 – Ruby Keane * 2019 – No president; committee-led * 2020 – Jade Franks * 2021 – Adédàmọ́lá Láoyè * 2022 – Ayush Prasad * 2023 – Niamh Howat * 2024 – Margaret Saunderson * 2025 – James Allen

References

External links

Official website

Official International Tour website

Past members and shows

Footlights Alumni Association

The Cambridge Footlights Review, 1982
{{Authority control 1883 establishments in England Amateur theatre companies in England Clubs and societies of the University of Cambridge Culture of the University of Cambridge Lists of people associated with the University of Cambridge Organizations established in 1883 Student theatre in the United Kingdom Student comedy troupes Theatre in Cambridge