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Don’t ever say we at Channel 4 Comedy don’t do our research. We know things; know things that you dare never imagine. For instance, did you know that a tomato is in fact a fruit and not a vegetable? Right, well, if that little nugget of trivia didn’t impress you, what about this – Mitchell and Webb (them of the Peep Show fame) both went to Cambridge and were members of Footlights. If you’re of an inquisitive nature you may well be asking, “What the blazes is Footlights?” You’re in the right place to find out.
Footlights is the Cambridge University Footlights Dramatic Club famed for airing the leading comedic and acting talents of this and the last century. This year Footlights celebrates its 125th birthday and within those 125 years the amateur theatrical club has both changed the landscape of the acting and comedy worlds.
In the early 20th century, Footlights gradually pushed itself out of the self-restrained boundaries of the Amateur Dramatic Club Theatre in Cambridge and into the West End theatres. The BBC then set a precedent by being the first broadcaster to pick up on Footlights’ talent by broadcasting A Flash In A Cam on radio and television. Comedy stars of Footlights’ revues from the 1950s (Peter Cook) and 1960s (John Cleese and Graham Chapman) then started to become household names. Appearances at the Edinburgh Festival with the Footlights revue gave a helping hand to these comedians’ rise in public notoriety.
Whether you realise it or not, we, the comedy consuming public, have been laughing our proverbial heads off at Footlights offspring for years. The two Clives (Anderson and James) were members of Footlights, as was Eric Idle, Douglas Adams, Hugh Laurie, Stephen Fry, Emma Thompson, Tony Slattery, Nick Hancock and David Baddiel to name just a few. In fact there are a few Channel 4 faces that have been to Footlights too. Here are a few of them:
Mitchell & Webb
Yes, that pesky Peep Show duo have once again managed to get themselves in one of our features! Robert Webb first appeared with Footlights in the leftfield sounding Barracuda Jazz Option and then starred with his now comedy partner, David Mitchell, in Fall From Grace. David Mitchell then outdid Robert by becoming Footlights president. The previous year Robert was vice-president.
Richard Ayoade and Matthew Holness
Perhaps you don’t know their names, but you should know their faces. Holness and Ayoade (another former Footlights president) won the 2001 Perrier Award at the Edinburgh Fringe for Garth Marenghi’s Netherhead. The spoof horror writer character, Garth Marenghi, was then transferred over to Channel 4 in 2004 and became a cult classic. Both later featured together in Man To Man With Dean Learner in 2006. Ayoade has also appeared as Maurice in IT Crowd and Ned Smanks in Nathan Barley.
Morwenna Banks
Morwenna Banks, who plays Tony Stonem’s mum in Skins, emerged from Footlights alongside Punt and Dennis and Nick Hancock. She’s since had a varied career to say the least, starring in Saturday Night Live, Sabrina The Teenage Witch and the underrated Vic and Bob comedy series Catterick.
