Received history suggests that comedy became the new rock and roll in 1993 when Baddiel and Newman played Wembley Arena. For me the comedy/music interface came much earlier.

In 1979 I'd started frequenting late-night clubs in Soho which usually put on bands. Then one evening I saw an item on BBC1’s Nationwide about a pioneering club, The Comedy Store, on the corner of Dean Street, where new comedians were performing. I went down the the following week and had the same thrill I'd previously had seeing new bands. Except there wasn't just one great act. I still recall Rick Mayall, Ade Edmondson, Peter Richardson, Nigel Planer, Arnold Brown and Keith Allen on the same bill, with Alexei Sayle compering. Not a bad start to a life in comedy.

Comedy has the unerring ability to reinvent itself. Just as you think the last gag has been cracked a new one is minted. Over the years I've seen the political humour of the original alternative brigade evolve into the surrealism of Vic and Bob and then into the dark wit of The League Of Gentlemen. More recently all three strands have come together in Little Britain – social comment, catchphrases and vomiting. What more could you want? Well, Ricky Gervais, Chris Morris, Billy Connolly, Daniel Kitson, Tommy Cooper for starters. I've written about comedy for the Guardian and The Times and have been the Standard’s comedy critic for seven years. I’ve chaired the Perrier Awards panel and penned various books about comedy - biographies of Reeves and Mortimer and Rowan Atkinson and, this year, The Best Stand-Up and Comedy Routines, a series of in-depth profiles of iconic comics such as Peter Cook and the Monty Python team, which comes with a free CD. None of this really matters of course. What matters is I am a passionate fan. I had a night off from reviewing last week. What did I do for fun? I went to The Comedy Store.

In this blog I'll be peering into comedy's underbelly and reporting back. You can read my reviews of major shows elsewhere on this website and in the Evening Standard. This is a chance to go behind the scenes. To introduce the embryonic icons as they embark on that long journey to Wembley Arena and the BAFTAS. Like so much frog spawn, many will not make it beyond the tadpole stage, but it’ll be fun watching them try. I’ll also be regularly discussing various issues in comedy – for instance political correctness and the return of its evil cousin, incorrectness. And don't worry - there will be gossip too.

Brilliant comedian Josie Long spoke in her recent Award-winning Edinburgh show about how she loves comedy because it is such a direct form of communication. You have an idea, you go onstage and say it. In that sense, she adds, comedy is the nearest thing to punk rock's ethic of "here's three chords, now go and form a band". I couldn't agree more. Comedy as the new rock and roll? Comedy as the enduring spirit of punk rock might be more accurate.