Alternative comedy is a term that originated in the 1980s for a style of comedy that makes a conscious break with the mainstream comedic style of an era, and typically avoids relying on a standardised structure of a sequence of jokes with punch lines. Patton Oswalt defines it as "comedy where the audience has no pre-set expectations about the crowd, and vice versa. In comedy clubs, there tends to be a certain vibe—alternative comedy explores different types of material."

The Official History of London's Comedy Store credits comedian and author Tony Allen with coining the term, though in his autobiography, the late Malcolm Hardee claims to have coined the term in 1978.

Alternative comedy came to describe an approach to stand-up comedy that was neither racist nor sexist but free-form and devised by the performers themselves. This style won out in a 'civil war' against more traditional comedians who had initially played London's Comedy Store, Soho, from its opening in May 1979.

Traditional club comics of the time had been reliant on trite jokes which often targeted women and minority groups. The alternative that developed was more like comedy's answer to punk.

Eugene Boris Mirman (born July 24, 1974) is a Russian-born American comedian, writer, and filmmaker. Mirman currently plays Yvgeny Mirminsky on Delocated, and voices Gene Belcher for the animated comedy Bob's Burgers.

Mirman was born in Russia to Jewish parents. His family immigrated to the United States when he was four and a half years old.

Mirman attended William Diamond Middle School and Lexington High School in Lexington, MA, and Hampshire College in Western Massachusetts. He returned to his high school to deliver its 2009 commencement address. He will return to Hampshire to deliver the 2012 commencement speech as well.

In 2004, Mirman released The Absurd Nightclub Comedy of Eugene Mirman, a CD/DVD on Suicide Squeeze Records. The album was voted one of the Best Albums of 2004 by both The A.V. Club and Time Out New York. His second album, En Garde, Society was released by Sub Pop in 2006. Three years later, Mirman released another comedy album titled God Is a Twelve-Year-Old Boy with Aspergers which was recorded in Chicago at the Lakeshore Theatre.

Maeve Higgins (born 24 March 1981) is an Irish comedian, from Cobh, County Cork. She was a principal actor/writer of the RTÉ production Naked Camera, as well for her own show Maeve Higgins' Fancy Vittles. She has a regular, Tuesday morning, slot on The Ray D'Arcy Show on Today FM called "What would Maeve do?", which provides tongue-in-cheek advice to listeners' questions.

Higgins hosts her own radio show on Today FM titled "Maeve Higgins's Amusing Notes".

Higgins was born in Cobh, County Cork, and attended Walterstown National Primary School and Saint Aloysius' College, Carrigtwohill. She later studied photography in Colaiste Dhulaigh, Dublin, finishing her studies in 2004. Soon after that she began doing stand-up comedy.

Higgins started her 'comedic' career in 2004, and has written and performed at many festivals and shows. She began her comedy career on national radio station Today FM after auditioning on The Ray D'Arcy Show in February 2004. She failed to win.

In 2005, she took part in the hidden camera show Naked Camera with fellow comedian and friend, PJ Gallagher, and landed her own television show, Maeve Higgins' Fancy Vittles, in 2009.

Stephen Carlin is a Scottish-born stand-up comedian, now living in London. Carlin is popular on the UK comedy scene for his intricate knowledge of international snooker^{[citation needed]} and accomplished writing and performance. He was named by Stewart Lee as one of the 'Ten Best Comedians In The World Ever'^{[citation needed]}. He has appeared on television and radio including ITV2's Comedy Cuts and The Milk Run on BBC Radio 1. He is represented by Glorious Management.

William "Bill" Burr (born June 10, 1968) is an American stand-up comedian, radio host and actor.

Burr was born in Canton, Massachusetts. His father was a dentist, and Bill worked as a hygienist for a short time. He began stand-up at age 23 after attending Emerson College, where he majored in Radio. Burr also had a early morning slot on college radio during this period. In 1995, he moved to New York City and lived there for eight months. Burr then moved to Los Angeles, California, where he worked on a number of film and television projects. He returned to New York in 1999 and moved back to Los Angeles in 2008, where he currently resides. Burr stands 5'10" in height, is left handed, and is of German and Irish descent.

He performs over three hundred shows annually, had two movies released in 2006, and has performed on The Late Show with David Letterman, Late Night with Conan O'Brien, and The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien. In early 2004, he appeared in two episodes of Chappelle's Show, and in September 2005, his HBO One Night Stand special aired. Along with many other projects, Burr has also been a guest comedian on the Bob and Tom Show as well as on the Opie and Anthony Show on XM Satellite Radio, sometimes sitting in when third member Jim Norton is away. He has also performed on the Comedy Central Presents show.