Analysis of information sources in references of the Wikipedia article "Alternative comedy" in English language version.
'Alternative' comedy is inevitably difficult to define, not least because it tends, after an interval, to join the mainstream.
Alternative comedy is nothing new. The term gained fame in 1980s Britain, when out-of-the-ordinary sitcoms like The Young Ones or Absolutely Fabulous popped up, and continued in America with unorthodox sketch comedy groups such as Manhattan's Upright Citizen's Brigade. But, according to [Andrea Rosen of the 'Pie Hole Comedy Show' in Brooklyn, New York], alternative comedy predates all of those acts. 'Mel Brooks was an alternative comic,' said Rosen, citing his famous 2000-Year-Old Man routine. 'So is Steve Martin.' And Rosen's influences also include old masters like filmmaker Woody Allen, who started his career as a standup. 'There's a whole world of alternative comedy rooms, in bars and basements.'
Bars and back rooms in the East Village and Lower East Side are overflowing these days with the likes of Adolf Dice Hitler Clay: not spoofs of Nazis necessarily, but rather a wave of young and creative comics who are branching out from straight stand-up to eccentric sketch and character-based humor that owes more to Da Ali G Show than to George Carlin....Any attempt to define the term alternative comedy was doomed, [Andrés] du Bouchet said before his Tuesday night show, but he gave it a shot anyway. "Alternative is a catchall phrase for 'not stand-up,' " he said. Aziz Ansari, 22 and an up-and-coming comic on the scene, elaborated. "The alternative rooms give you an outlet to explore something other than straight stand-up," he said. "You can do characters. I can bring a girl on stage that I got rejected by and interview her, or do a PowerPoint presentation or show a short film. The nature of the venues allows you to experiment."
