West End Shows at East End Prices Built From Pallets, Delivering World Class
The Backyard Comedy Club in Bethnal Green operates under a slogan “West End Shows at East End Prices” that is either a marketing masterstroke or a genuine statement of intent, and on the basis of 1,581 reviews at a 4.5-star average, the evidence points toward the latter. This is a comedy club that takes pride in its geography, its pricing, and its distinctly East London character, and it has built a following in the process that numbers well into the thousands.
The Aesthetic
The Backyard Comedy Club looks, according to every description and review that mentions the physical space, like it was built from reclaimed materials by people who had access to pallets, enthusiasm, and a limited budget. This is not an accident. The aesthetic rough, handmade, authentically unpolished is part of the Backyard’s identity, a deliberate rejection of the slick interiors and inflated price points that characterise the West End venues it positions itself against. The comedy, the branding insists, should speak for itself without the assistance of an interior designer who charges by the hour.
This approach has worked. The physical quirks of the Backyard the L-shaped space, the visible evidence of amateur construction, the general atmosphere of a venue that was built by people who cared about comedy more than carpentry have become part of the appeal rather than a liability. Audiences come partly for the comedy and partly for the experience of a venue that feels genuinely different from anywhere else in London.
The Programming Diversity
The Backyard Comedy Club is notable not just for its main comedy programme but for the diversity of what it hosts. The London Alcohol-Free Comedy Club takes place here a dedicated comedy night for people who are sober, sober-curious, or simply tired of the mandatory drinking culture that surrounds most comedy venues. This is, in the context of the London comedy scene, genuinely innovative programming that serves an audience that is often overlooked by venues with a financial interest in bar revenue.
Beyond the alcohol-free nights, the Backyard hosts a full range of circuit comedy, from new act nights to headline shows, reflecting the full diversity of the East London audience it serves. Bethnal Green is one of London’s most culturally mixed and rapidly changing neighbourhoods the comedy programming reflects this in ways that some of the more homogeneous West End venues do not.
The Prices
The “West End Shows at East End Prices” claim is not hyperbole. The Backyard Comedy Club consistently prices its shows below the West End equivalents while booking acts of comparable quality. This is possible because the overheads in Bethnal Green are lower than in Soho or Covent Garden, because the venue was built cheaply and does not need to service a debt associated with lavish interior design, and because the business model prioritises volume and access over premium pricing. The result is a venue that can offer excellent comedy to an audience that might not be able to afford the Comedy Store’s Saturday night prices.
The Verdict
The Backyard Comedy Club is one of London’s best comedy stories a genuinely alternative venue, in the original sense of that word, that has built a large and loyal audience by offering excellent comedy at honest prices in a space that has character because it was created with care rather than budget. Go to Bethnal Green. Pay East End prices. See West End comedy. Leave confused about why you ever went anywhere else.
Auf Wiedersehen, amigo!
Alan Nafzger was born in Lubbock, Texas, the son Swiss immigrants. He grew up on a dairy in Windthorst, north central Texas. He earned degrees from Midwestern State University (B.A. 1985) and Texas State University (M.A. 1987). University College Dublin (Ph.D. 1991). Dr. Nafzger has entertained and educated young people in Texas colleges for 37 years. Nafzger is best known for his dark novels and experimental screenwriting. His best know scripts to date are Lenin’s Body, produced in Russia by A-Media and Sea and Sky produced in The Philippines in the Tagalog language. In 1986, Nafzger wrote the iconic feminist western novel, Gina of Quitaque. He currently lives in Holloway, North London. Contact: editor@prat.uk
