Un-Cabaret

UnCabaret is a Los Angeles-based alternative comedy company that produces live, TV and web projects.

UnCabaret was created by performance artist-turned comedian Beth Lapides whose frustration with the comedy club scene of the late 1980s in the Los Angeles lead her to seek 'a better way'. She began producing shows in 'alternative' venues and in 1988 with writer-producer Greg Miller launched UnCabaret at The Women's Building.

In November 1993, UnCabaret was booked for three nights at LunaPark, a new music club in West Hollywood. Every Sunday night for the next seven years, Beth gathered a group of performers culled from the very best and brightest comedians, including Patton Oswalt, Judy Toll, Taylor Negron, Bob Odenkirk, Julia Sweeney, Bobcat Goldthwait, Terry Sweeney, Merrill Markoe, Janeane Garofalo, David Cross, Laura Kightlinger, Andy Kindler, Dana Gould, Kathy Griffin, Andy Dick, Margaret Cho, Michael Patrick King, to develop an idiosyncratic story based form of stand-up. The idea of the show was to be funny without doing an 'act' and use story-based stream-of-consciousness techniques rather than the set-up and punchline formula of mainstream standup.

Traditional comedians dismissed UnCabaret for its lack of structure and formal technique, but the show drew a rabid cult following and influenced many other 'alternative comedy' shows in Los Angeles, then New York and eventually throughout the country and Canada.

...
Wikipedia