News / mark olver
Comedians to take over some of Bristol smallest eateries
Some of Bristol’s smallest food and drink venues will be hosting comedy shows in January as Belly Laughs returns for its second year both raising money for charity and helping hospitality businesses during a traditionally quiet month.
The brainchild of Bristol comedian Mark Olver, a highlight of Belly Laughs 2 is a one-evening takeover of venues across Wapping Wharf on January 15 2019, with tickets now on sale for shows in Bertha’s Pizza, Box E, The Pickled Brisket and Squeezed.
Comedians confirmed so far for the shows – some of which have a capacity of barely half a dozen audience members – include Jarred Christmas, Stuart Goldsmith and Sally-Anne Hayward.
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Audience members will book their tickets not knowing what comedians they will be seeing, with the comedians themselves on a night with multiple venues doing as many as four back-to-back 20-minute sets.
Olver, who cut his comedy teeth in his home city and once shared a flat with fellow comedians Russell Howard, Jon Richardson and John Robins, now mostly appears as a warm-up act for television shows including The Mash Report and The Last Leg .
He told Bristol24/7 that his original idea for Belly Laughs was to enable himself to get a few free sausage rolls, before he realised that it could both help small independent businesses and raise money for charity.
“The whole point is that we do it for the venues,” said Olver, who lives in Brislington and in January 2018 held a Belly Laughs gig at his local Indian restaurant, The Curry House on Bath Road.
He said: “I wanted restaurants to have at least one night in January when they got a full-house of customers through their doors.”
The charity that Belly Laughs supports is The Julian Trust, which runs an emergency night shelter on Little Bishop Street in St Paul’s for homeless people and rough sleepers.
“I wanted it to be about homelessness, with January being so cold, and I wanted to find a specific local charity,” he explained.
Belly Laughs is still very much a Bristol event, with other shows in January taking place at venues including The Bean Tree Cafe in Staple Hill, The Elephant House in Bedminster and Spike Island Cafe.
The things you need to host a comedy gig, according to Olver, are a stage, lights, sound and people facing in the right direction, something that some of the Belly Laughs venues can provide, and others cannot. But that does not prevent them from being able to host a unique night of comedy.
Olver has been approached with requests to replicate the concept in other cities and this is something he says he would love to do, with the right support.
“Bristol is the best place for me to start this,” Olver said. “I’m so excited to be doing it all again, raising money for The Julian Trust, bringing my friends down and introducing them to some of these amazing places we have in Bristol.
“With Wapping Wharf, it’s sort of making what you might think of as a new comedy festival. There’s something magical about Wapping Wharf. I can’t wait.”
Tickets for Belly Laughs are now on sale at www.getawriggleon.com/magazine/bristol/introducing/belly-laughs-comedy-for-a-cause
Read more: Mark Olver, Bristol’s Mr Comedy
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