Bright Club Edinburgh 4.0 "Resolution"

January 4th 1642 – King Charles I sends soldiers to arrest members of Parliament, commencing England's slide into civil war. January 4th 1903 – Thomas Edison electrocutes an elephant to make a point. January 4th 2012 – Bright Club Edinburgh arrives at a proper comedy venue.   This week's "Hot Ticket" according to the New Statesman.  Must be a quiet week.  Our comedic academics are: Robbie Cooper - Faces are his sphere Gemma Flynn - Funny in theory Pete Gwynne - Under stress conditions Callum Hill - Unsustainably funny Yali Huang - A fantastic tail Callum Johnston - Brain t'humourist With, as usual, a hilarious compere and interval act. (Some of you will have seen Pete G and Callum J perform at #3.0 ...they return with modified joke data) Show starts at 8pm Tickets £5 - on the door and available in advance from The Stand http://www.thestand.co.uk/Edinburgh.aspx

Bright Club Edinburgh 3.14: "Minced" - the line up

We are excited to announce the line up for this show:

Sarah Artt: Talking over the Christmas Telly
Charlotte Bosseaux: Carol-aoke Mistress
Fiona Lethbridge: Nuptial Gift Wrapper
Karon McBride: Physics Fairy
Dan Ridley-Ellis: Tree Wise Man
Hari Sriskantha: Gamma Ray-ndeer Burst

With Susan Morrison providing the additional comedy glitter.

(We couldn't resist writing a minced pile of new material)

 

As always, we advise advance purchase of tickets as there will only be a few available on the door.

http://www.wegottickets.com/event/144318

 

And don't forget...we'd love you to dress up in some minced-up fashion. We will be...

Bright Club Edinburgh 3.14 Minced

We had an accident in the comedy lab and things got all minced up so join us at the glamorous Voodoo Rooms on Tuesday 13 December for a festive party version of Bright Club!
Celebrate the joyous season of the carbohydrate coma and the sugar high as past Bright Club Edinburgh performers reorient their research-themed funny towards topics such as Santa, Christmas trees and carol singing. Come in good voice for what will be the most interactive show yet. The hilarious Susan Morrison will try to hold it all together.

In keeping with the theme of mincing and remixing, guests are encouraged to dress in the mash-up fashion of their choice - such as Medieval Eurovision, Baroquabilly or Steampict.

Doors at 7:30. Tickets, at most, £4 in advance from We Got Tickets or £4 on the door. www.wegottickets.com/event/​144318

Previous performances have all sold out so get your tickets early!
18+ due to venue restrictions (but also there will be some sweary words)

Bright Club Edinburgh 3.0 Luck

We've nailed down most of the loose bits so here is the line up. It's luckin' brilliant.

Callum Johnston - The neuro-nonsense newbie
Pete Gwynne - An ongoing experiment
Guy Jones - A comical reaction
Mark Payne - Moody mathematician
John Tinsley – The codfather
May McCreaddie - Nursing a grievance

Plus a professional compere and interval act ...and the traditional sweets and badges!

City Cafe, Edinburgh

Doors open 7:30pm, show starts at 8. Tickets are £4, available in advance from WeGotTickets: http://www.wegottickets.com/event/139128

Bright Club 3.0 ahoy

The next Bright Club Edinburgh Show will be on the 1st November as we return to City Cafe. Details of the line up will follow in time, but you know the format by now: 6 funny researchers, a professional comic compere and half time entertainment of the variety variety.
Doors open 7:30pm, show starts at 8. Tickets are £4, available in advance from WeGotTickets: http://www.wegottickets.com/event/139128

Later in the month we have two new Scottish Bright Club's hitting the comedy scene with their first shows
Bright Club Dundee on the 8th November http://www.brightclubdundee.org/
Bright Club Glasgow on the the 17th November http://www.wegottickets.com/event/138243

While you've got your diary out, you should make a note the Bright Club Edinburgh arrives at the Stand comedy club for a show on Jan 4th.

Citations in the literature

We got excellent reviews for #2.0 from EUSci and - deep breath - New Scientist.

There is also an article on Informed Edinburgh written just before the show.

Children of the revolution

Wow. We sure do get the loveliest audience on the stand-up comedy circuit. And we are not just saying that. We're typing it on the information super highway. Kerchow.

So let's pause for a moment to reflect on what we learnt... Male torsos are interesting, especially when covered in QR codes - although they could do with more doughnuts. That there may be lust in translation, or depressing failure to acquire the right culture...and that something truly filthy can be rhymed with submarine.

Seriously. We can never hear that song again without thinking of...no - we can't say it. The Internet is not ready for that level of filth yet.

Photos will be posted up on Facebook soon, but in the meantime, you may like to listen to the interview that we did live on BBC Radio Scotland following our launch in July. It was only on iplayer for a week so I hope the BBC are cool with reposting it...because we so want to work with them again next Fringe.

http://soundcloud.com/danridley-ellis/brightclubedinburgh_radio/s-WfigL

Bright Club 2.0 - Revolution

Bright Club - "The thinking person's variety night" - returns to City 2 at the City Cafe on Tuesday September 20th.

It's time for Revolution! so we have a whole new line-up of comedic academics to do stand-up for your entertainment:

Sarah Artt - Costume Drama Apologist
Charlotte Bosseaux - French trans-latologist
Fiona Lethbridge - Beetle Juicer
Karon McBride - A force for good
Gemma Sharp - Cell culture vulture
Chris Speed - A space man
& Dan Ridley-Ellis - who just won't go away
with compere Susan Morrisson, music, sweets and more!

Tickets are on sale online for the bargain price of £4:
http://www.wegottickets.com/event/134222

We sold out the City Cafe last time, and expect to do so again. There will be a limited number of tickets on the door, but please arrive in good time to avoid dissapointment.
IMPORTANT: doors open at 7:30, but pre-paid tickets do not guarantee entry unless you check in with the door staff before 7:45.

Looking forward to seeing you on the 20th!

Bright Club Edinburgh comprehensively launched

Good news everyone: Bright Club Edinburgh is now well and truly launched. Our inaugural gig was on the 26th July at the City Cafe and we came back to do another inaugural gig on the BBC stage on the 24th August. I guess this means that, like the Queen, we have two birthdays. This is a good thing because we like a party.

Also in August we sent ambassadors of funny down to Wales for the Green Man music festival. Then, just as we performers were feeling a bit sad that our time in the limelight was coming to an end, the nice people at the Turing Festival invited us to come and make some more laughter last Saturday evening.

Now though, we must be good children and share our new toy. So at our next gig we'll have a totally new line up and, like the Doctor on fast-forward we'll be regenerating pretty much every month from now on. Details of the next gig still be sorted out, but set diaries to book: 20th September.

And, of course, if you are involved in university research we'd love to have you be funny with us. It is a total blast. You'll love it. 

We're going to have a sister: Bright Club Glasgow

Bright Club, ‘the thinking person’s variety night’ is coming to Glasgow! Watch as academics from Glesga’s plethora of universities take to the stage, blending comedy with science, the arts and humanities... with a bit of live music thrown in for good measure.

If you're interested in helping to make this happen (either as a performer or organiser) then please get in touch (z.gladman.1@research.gla.ac.uk ) or ‘like’ us on facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Bright-Club-Glasgow/246407402050916

As with Bright Club Edinburgh, researchers from ALL disciplines are welcome. Previous participants have included scientists, philosophers, archaeologists, engineers, historians… even mathematicians! Performers will receive full training prior to the night, with rehearsals and ample advice from a professional comedian. 

OMG BBC

So - we just did the big showbiz stage at BBC @ Potterrow in front of some 250 people and it was awesome fun.  Our assigned BBC butler said it was the most perfect audience they've had...but we already knew we had great friends.

We reprised our sets from the first gig at the City Cafe, distilled down to five (ish) minutes and with a few new surprises.  The line up was Hari Sriskantha, Andy Macleod, Dan Ridley-Ellis, Steve Earl, Zara Gladman, Dan Arnold, and Bright Club founder Steve Cross ...with compere Josie Long and music from Isy Suttie

Sell Out Success at the City Café!

Thank you to all those who came along and squeezed into the lovely City 2 last night! A huge sorry to those folk we had to turn away at the door – we’d love to see you at another Bright Club soon (remember to pre-buy tickets online to guarantee your place!)

We all had an ama-a-azing time as laughter and learning were teamed together at long, long last! Steve Cross (UCL) journeyed all the way from London to launch Bright Club Edinburgh with a suitably ambitious introduction, before Susan Morrison whipped up the crowd with her legendary local banter and lampooning of Leith…

Of course, the real stars of the show were the brave researchers who cast aside all the academic stereotypes to make research funny. Really funny! Some of the things I picked up along the way:

• You can use graphs to get laughs (Hari Sriskantha, Astro-lyricist)
• Intelligence is linked somehow to our jeans... or genes (Andy Macleod, Gene Gene-ius)
• You got to take wood to get wood… it’s a bit like cheese… hmmm, maybe you had to be there for that one! (Dan Ridley-Ellis, Jumps from tree to tree)
• Ukuleles are awesome - although, in fairness, I already knew this! (Eleanor Morton)
• Measuring drunkenness is a quietly dignified but inexact science (Steve Earl, a unit)
• Crayfish can be unfavourably compared to Madonna (Zara Gladman, Zoo-lol-ogist)
• A “black swan event” is when you discover something you had no prior way of knowing that you didn’t know: Always good to put a name to a weird situation! (Dan Arnold, Isn’t sure what he is…)

Catch Zara G and Dan R-E on the BBC Radio Scotland Comedy Café – 13:15pm this Friday (29th July) for a brief taste of Bright Club Edinburgh ‘Beginnings’!

You can still apply for FREE tickets to see this show again at the Fringe - but make it snappy, the deadline’s today (27th July)! Please watch this space for details of the next Bright Club on 20th September – be there and be square! (In a good way)

Sarah

See you tonight!!!

Hello friends and well-wishers!

I hope you are all suitably geared up for a night of laughter as our colleagues take to the stage to enlighten us on their weird and wonderful work!

Online ticket sales have now closed - please come along and buy tickets at the door - see you there!! (Only £3 - City Cafe, Blair Street)

*NEW* BBC@Potterrow Fringe 2011 ShowApply for tix now!!!

Come along and support our intrepid band of mirthful researchers as they hop out of frying pan- and into the Fringe! They'll be performing live in the *new* BBC@Potterrow Venue.

If you're free on Wednesday 24^th August, apply for tickets now! (The deadline is 27^th July)

Oh – and they’re free J

http://www.bbc.co.uk/showsandtours/shows/date/shows/bright_club_edfest_20110824

First Bright Club! Tuesday 26th July, Doors open 7.30pm

Let there be Bright (Club): We're talking about... Beginnings!

Come to the City Cafe on Blair Street at 7.30pm on 26 July and meet some of the fascinating people working in Edinburgh's Universities as they take a whimsical look at the weird and wonderful world of research!

Starring:
Susan Morrison - MC and Comedy Volcano!
Dan Arnold – Isn't sure what he is...!
Steve Earl – Energetic Engineer
Zara Gladman - Zoo-lol-ogist
Andy Macleod – Gene Genie-us
Dan Ridley-Ellis – Leaps from tree to tree...
Hari Sriskantha – Astro-lyricist
and more...!!!

Tickets are the bargain price of £3. Click here to buy them online