Comedy Store

Since 16 January 1925, David Tennant's Gargoyle private members' club had leased the three top floors of 69 Dean Street, Soho, London (at the corner with Meard Street). In 1952, Tennant sold the Gargoyle as a going concern for £5,000 to caterer John Negus. In 1955, the club was sold to Michael Klinger and Jimmy Jacobs, who relaunched it as a strip club called the Nell Gwynne (variously advertised as a theatre, club, or revue). A 1960s ad shows the club as the Nell Gwynne by day and the Gargoyle Club at night.

In 1978, Peter Rosengard was on holiday with his wife Irkku in Los Angeles. <blockquote>"We had nothing to do one night, so I asked the concierge and he recommended the Comedy Store. At the time there was no live comedy in the UK, apart from working men's clubs up north, which was not really my scene. I loved what I saw in LA, so decided to open one in London, despite everybody telling me I was nuts."</blockquote> In 1979, the Gargoyle's upper rooms took in a varied series of weekly themed club-nights, in addition to the long-running Nell Gwynne Revue strip show. Don Ward said Rosengard could use his premises on Saturday nights. But it was also a strip club with topless barmaids, which…