When Don Ward advertised for performers before opening London’s Comedy Store in 1979, 150 aspiring comedians queued around the block. Alexei Sayle stood at the front. The club developed a demanding open-stage system in which new acts could try short sets and be “gonged off” when the audience rejected them. Performers including French and Saunders and Paul Merton returned after repeated failures and gradually found material that worked. The source does not give the audition wait time or detailed registration procedure, but it records the number, location, purpose and first person in line. The queue was not an audience waiting for established stars. It consisted of unknown performers seeking access to a place where they were allowed to fail. A venue that later shaped British alternative comedy began by processing 150 hopefuls one turn at a time.