It was founded by Peter Cook and Nicholas Luard, both of whom were also important in the history of the magazine Private Eye. The name \"The Establishment\" is a play on the meaning of \"establishment\" as in \"institution,\" i.e. the club itself, and the broader definition meaning the prevailing social order of the time, which the satirists who founded, funded and performed at the club typically undermined. Peter Cook called it \"the only good title I ever came up with.\"
The venue allowed the opportunity for budding comedians and satirists to perform new material in a nightclub setting, outside the jurisdiction of the Lord Chamberlain, whose censorship of language and content was a problem for many performers. Some who appeared included Lenny Bruce in 1962, Barry Humphries, and musically, The Dudley Moore Trio.
