Bright Club heads to Kew Gardens in September/October 2014

Bright Club is heading to Kew Garden for 2 exciting shows as part of their autumn festival.

Intoxication is a 4 week extravaganza exploring mind altering plants and fungi and we have been invited along to do some special gigs on the theme.

On Sunday 21st September and Sunday 5th October there will be a 1 hour show with UCL and Kew researchers from biology and neuroscience to culture and history sharing their jovial jokes and flippant facts about the plants that intoxicate us.

You’ll need to buy a ticket for Kew Gardens, but once you are in our events are free!

There will be more information on the Kew website soon about all the other brilliant things happening, and watch this space for updates on times and locations.

Bright Club at Green Man Festival – August 15th and 17th

We’re heading down to Green Man Festival again this August to celebrate summer in the Welsh hills. Tickets to the festival are selling fast, but there are still some left!

We’ve got 10 brilliant Bright Clubbers from the past 12 months (and a bit more) and we’ll be based in Einstein’s Garden on the Omni Tent stage 6pm-7pm on Friday and Sunday.

July 23rd – Bright Club: Heat the The Star of Kings

Bright Club is back at our new favourite haunt, the Star of Kings, for another night of overly researched laughter.

6 UCL researchers will be taking to the stage to become stand up comics for the night, and regale you with tales of their work.

Supported by 2 professional comedians, this month our brave academics will be looking at the theme of ‘Heat’.

Compere: Kent Valentine

Headline comedian: Steve Hall 

UCL researchers include

Oliver Marsh – Gives a heated sideways view of science

Charlotte Johnson – Helps heat up communities

Peter Rees – on hot places

Zisis Kozlakidis – turns the heat on infection

Sam Bradley – heat us up with Chemistry

Marta Cecchinato – cools us off with technology

Tickets: £5

https://bcheat.eventbrite.co.uk

June 25th – Bright Club at the London Transport Museum

Delays on the Piccadilly Line – comical!

Face in someones armpit – hilarious!

Puncture on your Boris Bike – uproarious!

Isn’t commuting fun? Don’t you just love the crowds, the heat, the smell of oil…?

Actually, here at Bright Club, we do love transport* – so we’ve teamed up with the London Transport Museum for the third of our partnership gigs of 2014.

With three transport researchers from UCL, and three folk from London Transport Museum telling you tales to make you giggle – buses and trains have never been so funny. Not only that, but tickets to this event include a free return ticket to the Museum within one month of the event taking place – so you can indulge your inner trainspotter even more.

Compared by:

David Morgan – ‘A joy to behold’ (Metro), just like the new routemasters

Headliner:

Elis James – ‘had me laughing so hard, I couldn’t breathe for about 10 minutes’ (Scotsman), as if you were running for the number 38!

And featuring:

Roselle Thoreau – UCL Centre for Transport Studies

Catherine Holloway – UCL Accessibility Research Group

Raquel Velho – UCL Science and Technology Studies

Kathryn Skillings – LTM Community Training Manager

Joe Lewis –  LTM Youth Travel Ambassadors Programme

Katarina Mauranen – LTM Project curator for HLF Battle Bus

Tickets:  £10 Adults; £8 Concessions (with free entry to the museum within pone month!)

http://www.ltmuseum.co.uk/whats-on/events-calendar#brightclub

*Disclaimer: One of the Bright Club team may or may not have grown up in Crewe, land of trains. This may or may not influence the enthusiasm of the Bright Club team towards transport.

June 11th – Bright Club at the Natural History Museum Late

Now, we all know that Bright Club is the place to see university researchers doing something brilliant. And that’s why we’ve been invited along to the Natural History Museum on 11th June to take part in a celebration for Universities Week.

Just like a normal exciting museum late event, you can wander round after dark, spotting Stegosaurus shadows and quaffing vino in front of ancient fossils, but there will also be loads of lovely university people there from all over the country. There is more information on the Universities Week and NHM websites.

Bright Club will be on twice, at 7.15 and 9.15 in the Attenborough studio. Gigs will be just 30 minutes long, and include 2 researchers and the comedian David Morgan. And did we mention – it’s all FREE!

Researchers will be:

Kate Storrs UCL Brain Sciences

Simone Keunen UCL Economics

Rob Stanley UCL CoMPLEX

Claire Asher UCL Genetics, Evolution and Environment

No need to buy tickets, because it is FREE!

May 14th – Bright Club: Wishing at the Star of Kings

Tickets

Bright Club is getting all wistful at the end of spring, with a gig all about wishing. Ever wondered what PhD students really want to be doing with their time, or if a post-doc really is aspiring to save the world? All with a comedy twist?

We’ve picked a bunch of brilliant UCL researchers ready to make you laugh with longing as they share stories from their research. To support them through it, we’ll have two brilliant comedians to share their own wistful wants and keep the comedy coming.

So get your giggle on and join comedians:

Nish Kumar – who ‘will leave you with a warm, fuzzy feeling in your belly and a big smile on your face’ (Time Out)

Mae Martin – remember your sunglasses as Mae ‘sparkles from the moment she takes the stage’ (The Skinny)

And your researchers:

Rob Levy digs data

Anna Ploszajski hearts hydrogen

Nick Neasom is vocal about vowels

Michelle Korda harps on about hips

Dana Boebinger studies speech

Ticket: £5 from http://bcwishing.eventbrite.co.uk

5th birthday gig on April 29th – lineup ANNOUNCED!

That’s right, we’ve got the pick of the past UCL performers from our 5 years on the circuit, we’ve got a delicious selection of comedians to get you ready to chuckle, gaffaw and fall off your chair.

Just look at who the flipping heck we have got:

Comedians:

David Morgan – possibly the best MC we’ve ever had who makes the audience: “feel they’ve had a show performed specifically for them” (London is Funny)

Elis James – according to Fest, Elis “Should be at the top of your list”: and he is!

Suzi Ruffell – So “full of nervy, sparky energy” (Chortle) that we sometime worry she’ll blow the lights out, but so far we’ve been ok!

UCL performers:

Tristan Smith – shipping expert

Anne Welsh – uncovers secrets in your library

Jack Stilgoe – talks science policy

Steve Cross – Bright Club founder and most prolific performer

Sarah Dhanjal – shares her love of digging

Matt Winning – makes fun of the economy

Sophie Meekings – enjoys the weird things we do with our voices

Tom Stern – is playful with philosophy

Titus Hjelm – takes vampires seriously

Debbie Challis – digs the dirt on archaeologists

All we need now is the best audience we have seen for the past 5 years.

Think you’re one of our loyalist fans? Did you come to our first ever show? Are you a serial offender, popping in a few times a year, or a newbie who’s never been but wants to see what the fuss is all about?

Well, cancel your Easter Egg hangover, and gather those pennies together for the eve of payday, and get a ticket for Bright Club: Change on 29th April. It’s only at the flipping Bloomsbury Theatre as well!

Tickets: £8 from http://www.thebloomsbury.com/event/run/076A