Vic Reeves Big Night Out - History

History

In the mid-1980s, a friend of Jim Moir's gave him the job of running a comedy club in London. Not knowing how to book acts, he decided to put on a show of his own, changing his name every night, but eventually sticking with Vic Reeves and calling the show Vic Reeves' Variety Palladium. In 1986, he moved the show to the Goldsmiths Tavern (now the New Cross House), New Cross and renamed it Vic Reeves' Big Night Out.

The first shows were attended by a few friends whom Moir had invited to see his performance, one of whom brought solicitor Bob Mortimer along with him. Mortimer soon became friendly with Moir, and was invited on the stage to talk about his day at work. He soon became a regular fixture in the show and began to write material with Moir. Through word of mouth, the audience quickly grew to a large number of devotees, including Jools Holland, Jonathan Ross, Charlie Higson, and Paul Whitehouse. After the crowd expansion led to a change of venue to the Albany Empire theatre in 1988, backstage man Fred Aylward joined as the regular character Les. Higson and Whitehouse also had bit parts.

The show sparked the interest of Alan Yentob of the BBC, and Michael Grade of Channel 4, and eventually a deal was struck with Channel 4 to put the live show on television. With the help of Jonathan Ross' production company Channel X, a pilot was produced in 1989 (which has never been broadcast or released) where the three hour show was cut down to 25 minutes. The first series began in 1990, and the show ran for two series and one New Year's Eve special, totalling 15 episodes.