
Art / Crafting
Make Calendars and Memory Jars!
Family crafting workshop
Creative Workspace, Withywood: Wednesday, Jan 2 2019 11am
Comedy
Comedians to take over some of Bristol smallest eateries
The events are raising money for The Julian Trust
Comedy
Introducing… The Cheese Comedy Club
New monthly comedy night launches 'neath the Crown pub, St Nick's Market
Theatre
Happy 150th episode, Closer Each Day
Bristol's brilliant, unique improv soap opera passes another milestone this month
The season of festive excess may be over and January’s time of self-denial upon us, but when it comes to Bristol’s cultural landscape there’s certainly no need for any fasting.
From brand new comedy clubs to Motown-fuelled mega-musicals, via odes to the death of Little Chef and Syrian wedding-singers-turned-techno-giants, to oodles of silent and visual comedy fun courtesy of the world’s biggest and best festival of slapstick comedy, there’s a veritable embarrassment of cultural riches around Bristol this January.
So strap in and scroll down as we guide you through another packed month of cultural shenanigans.
Art / Crafting
Family crafting workshop
Creative Workspace, Withywood: Wednesday, Jan 2 2019 11am
Art / Crafting
All-ages crafting workshop around Japanese New Year
Creative Workspace, Withywood: Thursday, Jan 3 2019 11am
Art / Printmaking
Screenprints that follow traces of human activity in the city
: Wednesday, Jan 2 2019 - Tuesday, Mar 5 2019
Art / Exhibition
Printmaking and design themed around 'the city'
: Thursday, Jan 10 2019 - Tuesday, Jan 15 2019
Art / Hiroshige
Woodblock prints show 18C & 19C Japanese urban life
: Saturday, Jan 12 2019 - Sunday, May 12 2019
Art / Bristol artists
Wintry scenes by local photoographers
: Monday, Jan 14 2019 - Saturday, Feb 2 2019
Art / Document Scotland
Four photographers examine Scotland’s people, history and landscape
: Wednesday, Jan 16 2019 - Saturday, Mar 16 2019
Art / Drawing
UWE Drawing & Print students and alumni
: Thursday, Jan 17 2019 - Tuesday, Jan 22 2019
Art / Architecture
Introducing this pioneering housing company based on co-ownership
: Saturday, Jan 19 2019 - Sunday, Mar 24 2019
Art / Exhibition
On witchcraft and the relationship between women’s oppression and capitalism
: Saturday, Jan 19 2019 - Sunday, Mar 24 2019
Art / Exhibition
Well-travelled illustrator and UWE alumnus
: Tuesday, Jan 22 2019 - Sunday, Mar 10 2019
Art / Exhibition
Paintings by Ian Fraser ARCA
: Friday, Jan 25 2019 - Tuesday, Jan 29 2019
Art / Test Space Spike Island
Paint, performance and participation around communication, repetition, the everyday and the liminal
: Saturday, Jan 19 2019 - Sunday, Feb 3 2019
Books & Spoken Word / Poetry
Launch of new poetry collection plus open mic
The Crofters Rights: Tuesday, Jan 8 2019 8pm
Books & Spoken Word / film
Invited guest speakers recommend books on the Cinema
Redland Library: Thursday, Jan 10 2019 7pm
Books & Spoken Word / Poetry
New poetry anthology
Storysmith Books: Thursday, Jan 17 2019 6:30pm
Books & Spoken Word / Poetry
Top Bristol spoken word night
Arnolfini: Thursday, Jan 17 2019 7pm
Music / House
A marathon house and techno all day session
Motion: Tuesday, Jan 1 2019 2pm
Music / House
Expect massive production, unrivalled vibes and bangers galore
Motion: Saturday, Jan 12 2019 10pm
Music / Electronic
A feel good night led by electronic duo Dusky
Motion: Saturday, Jan 19 2019 10pm
Music / Techno
An evening of UK-inspired techno
Rough Trade: Friday, Jan 25 2019 7pm
Music / Electronic
A brand new stage show and huge handpicked supporting lineup
Motion: Friday, Jan 25 2019 10pm
Music / House
One of the most exciting names in house
Marble Factory: Saturday, Jan 26 2019 10pm
Comedy / Observational comedy
Simply put, one of the best comics on the circuit
The Comedy Box at the Hen & Chicken Studio: Saturday, Jan 5 2019 8:30pm
Comedy / How Lazy Is He
Kicking off the comedy year at The Lazy Dog
The Lazy Dog: Thursday, Jan 10 2019 8pm
Comedy / Observational comedy
Eloquent comic mixes charm and menace
The Comedy Box at the Hen & Chicken Studio: Saturday, Jan 12 2019 8:30pm
Comedy / Slapstick
Brilliant cerebral comic graces Slapstick
Watershed: Thursday, Jan 17 2019 4:30pm
Comedy / How Lazy Is He
Dark-tinged comic at The Lazy Dog this week
The Lazy Dog: Thursday, Jan 17 2019 8pm
Comedy / Slapstick 2019
The brilliant double act in conversation
Bristol Old Vic: Friday, Jan 18 2019 7:30pm
Comedy / Slapstick 2019
One-liner king shares his comedy faves
Bristol Old Vic: Saturday, Jan 19 2019 5pm
Comedy / Observational comedy
Quirky, surreal, vastly experienced observational comic
The Comedy Box at the Hen & Chicken Studio: Saturday, Jan 19 2019 8:30pm
Comedy / Slapstick 2019
Veteran comic, actor and improv king reflects on a brilliant and varied career
Bristol Old Vic Studio: Sunday, Jan 20 2019 3:30pm
Comedy / Slapstick 2019
The 1980s family favourite returns
Bristol Old Vic: Sunday, Jan 20 2019 5pm
Comedy / Slapstick 2019
Actor/impressionist gives us an evening of vintage and new Hancock
Bristol Old Vic Studio: Sunday, Jan 20 2019 6:30pm
Comedy / Open Mic
Busy open-mic sessions at the Crofters Rights
: Sunday, Sep 24 2017 - Sunday, May 20 2018
Comedy / Chuckle Busters
Comic relates her family's real-life spy drama
Tobacco Factory Theatres: Spielman Theatre: Sunday, Jan 20 2019 8pm
Comedy / How Lazy Is He
Splendidly shambolic comic at The Lazy Dog
The Lazy Dog: Thursday, Jan 24 2019 8pm
Comedy / Chuckle Busters
Mock the Week regular with her new show
: Friday, Jan 25 2019 8pm & Saturday, Jan 26 2019 8pm
Comedy / Chat Show
New monthly chat show
The Wardrobe Theatre: Friday, Jan 25 2019 9:45pm
Comedy / Improvised comedy
Excellent monthly stand-up/sketch/improv night
Arts House Cafe: Saturday, Jan 26 2019 7:30pm
Comedy / Observational comedy
Gauche charm and crafty, self-aware wit
The Comedy Box at the Hen & Chicken Studio: Saturday, Jan 26 2019 8:30pm
Comedy / Comedy and music
Comic/musician steps out from behind the John Shuttleworth mask
Tobacco Factory Theatres: Wednesday, Jan 30 2019 8pm
Comedy / Stand-Up
New monthly comedy night launches 'neath the Crown pub
The Crown (St Nick’s Market): Sunday, Jan 27 2019 8pm
Film / Drama
Poorly received box office flop melodrama
Film / Comedy
Laurel & Hardy return to the multiplexes to cash in on the release of Stan & Ollie
Film / Action
Celebrate the New Year apocalypse with this dodgy Italian knock-off
Film / Event Cinema
The King of the Waltz goes down under for his first New Year's concert
Film / Event Cinema
Soprano Anna Netrebko takes the title role for the first time at the Met
Film / Drama
Powell and Pressburger’s great romantic drama launches All the Stage's a World season
Film / Event Cinema
Simon Russell Beale stars as the Bard's weak and vain monarch
Film / Comedy
Tonight the definitive rock spoof returns to rock you again tonight
Film / Comedy
Charlie Chaplin's penultimate movie opens Slapstick 2019
Film / Comedy
Great physical comedy in Buster Keaton's most profitable silent film
Film / Comedy
Peter Krämer discusses one of Buster Keaton's most accomplished works
Film / Comedy
Bill Oddie, Graeme Garden & Tim Brooke-Taylor celebrate new box set with Richard Herring
Film / Comedy
The original 1971 spin-off movie, followed by an event with Frank Williams (aka the vicar)
Film / Animation
Aardman co-founder Peter Lord presents a selection of early animated beasties
Film / Comedy
Harold Lloyd comedy classic plus shorts screened amid the grandeur of Bristol Cathedral
Film / Comedy
Slapstick at the Watershed concludes with a celebration of the fogotten comic giants of yesteryear
Film / Comedy
An early example of Russian socialist slapstick, once banned for its anti-Bolshevik humour
Film / Comedy
Chaplin's The Pilgrim precedes discussion on whether religion is fair game for comedy
Film / Comedy
Rare screening of silent comedy western starring Will Rogers
Film / Comedy
Richard Herring and friends introduce a trio of classic L&H shorts
Film / Comedy
Sublime, lavishly restored René Clair romantic farce
Film / Comedy
33-year-old Mary Pickford plays another 12-year-old tomboy in this huge hit from 1925
Film / Comedy
Slapstick's annual selection of recently rediscovered silent comedy gems
Film / Comedy
Sally Phillips celebrates the silent screen actress with a screening of It's the Old Army Game
Film / Comedy
Revealing the real identity of a mysterious silent movie actress
Film / Comedy
Lucy Porter celebrates the newly restored work of this early silent comedy star
Film / Drama
Celebrated BBC drama about Stan Laurel's last visit to Oliver Hardy
Film / Comedy
Shining a light on Charlie's lesser-known sibling
Film / Comedy
Joe Thomas (aka Simon) reflects on the Inbetweeners' success, with a screening of the first movie
Film / Comedy
Laurel and Hardy's greatest feature, introduced by Bill Oddie and Robin Ince
Film / Comedy
An introduction to the joys of Charlie Chaplin for the under 12s
Film / Documentary
Documentary exploring the fractious relationship between these two '60s counterculture icons
Film / Documentary
An investigation into the burning of wood on an industrial scale for energy
Film / Comedy
Jailbird comedy screened in Come the Revolution's No B/S series
Film / Action
Ground-breaking action comedy screened in Come the Revolution's No B/S series
Film / Comedy
Whoopi Goldberg comedy returns in Come the Revolution's No B/S series
Film / Drama
Darren Aronofsky's stylish yet absolutely barking mad ballet-horror
Film / Ballet
Suicide, opium smoking, ghostly hauntings and the wrath of god - live from Moscow
Film / Event Cinema
Tchaikovsky's ambitious opera of love, obsession and - ulp! - the supernatural
Film / Event Cinema
Ralph Fiennes and Sophie Okonedo star in the Bard's great political tragedy
Film / Animation
The 20th film in the Japanese anime fantasy martial arts Dragon Ball series
Film / Drama
Bizarro Christian surfer flick that's been compared to The Room
Film / Drama
Robert Mitchum stars in a downbeat crime drama from the director of Bullitt
Film / Drama
Digital restoration of the 1920s box office record-breaker with Rudolph Valentino
Film / Ballet
Start of a new cinema season of interactive bite-sized ballets for tots
Film / Event Cinema
Massively popular Korean boy band celebrate self-love on stage
Film / Family
Musical remake returns in Come the Revolution's no B/S comedy season
Film / Action
William Friedkin’s key 70s crime thriller, with a career-making performance by Gene Hackman
Film / Art House
Wim Wenders' Berlin-set metaphysical romance
Film / Drama
Turner Prize nominated Richard Billingham's semi-autobiographical kitchen sink drama debut
Film / Documentary
Oscar nominated doc about U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg
Film / Art House
Reissue of the award-winning 1998 Russian satire that inspired Armando Ianucci
Film / Event Cinema
David Hare's 'state of the Labour Party' satire, broadcast live from the West End
Film / Drama
All-girl skateboarding drama is the first film to be adapted from an Instagram feed
Film / Event Cinema
The hit feelgood musical that does the Billy Elliot thing again
Film / Comedy
Python's Arthurian classic returns to the screen
Film / Art House
Sexy, funny Japanese 'ramen western' delivers fresh twist on the foodie flick
Film / Drama
Mystifyingly popular Stephen King prison drama returns to the big screen
Film / Fantasy
Guillermo del Toro's Oscar-winning fantasy masterpiece, screened in Redcliffe Caves
Film / Comedy
Wes Anderson's nautical comedy starring Bill Murray
Film / Event Cinema
Richard Eyre's evergreen production of the Verdi opera returns to Covent Garden
Food & Drink / Beer
The team from the Wiper & True brewery head to Pigsty on Gloucester Road
: Thursday, Jan 25 2018 - Friday, Jan 25 2019
Food & Drink / Beer
Be among the first to see Cosmic Brewing's brewery
The Star, Fishponds: Thursday, Jan 17 2019 6pm
Food & Drink / Beer
Five beers from New Bristol Brewery paired with five Slate & Wedge cheeses
New Bristol Brewery: Thursday, Jan 24 2019 7pm
Food & Drink / cheese
Hosted by David Greenman of Arch House Deli
Averys: Wednesday, Jan 16 2019 7pm
Music / Indie Rock
On their 'Away We Go' tour
: Sunday, Jan 14 2018 7:30pm & Monday, Jan 14 2019 7pm
Music / Shoegaze
Mexican psych-noise-fuzz masters
Rough Trade: Tuesday, Jan 15 2019 7:30pm
Music / Alternative
Dinosaur Jr. frontman
Thekla: Thursday, Jan 17 2019 7pm
Music / Soul
Conjuring the dynamism of Jackie Wilson, Curtis Mayfield, and The Impressions
Rough Trade: Sunday, Jan 20 2019 7:30pm
Music / Alternative
Founding member of The Beta Band
Rough Trade: Monday, Jan 21 2019 7:30pm
Music / Alternative Rock
Melancholic rock from cult Scottish outfit
Rough Trade: Tuesday, Jan 22 2019 7:30pm
Music / Folk
Atmospheric psychedelia and Americana
Thekla: Monday, Jan 28 2019 7:30pm
Music / Techno
Syrian musician who started out as a wedding singer
Marble Factory: Thursday, Jan 31 2019 7:30pm
Theatre / Comedy
Latest in a long line of superb devised comedies from the Wardrobe team
: Thursday, Nov 22 2018 - Sunday, Jan 20 2019
Theatre / Children's Theatre
Deep in the forest, in a wintry land, lives a gorgeously grizzly Beasty Baby...
: Thursday, Dec 6 2018 - Sunday, Jan 6 2019
Theatre / Children's Theatre
Enchanting family show from BOV and Ad Infinitum
: Friday, Nov 30 2018 - Sunday, Jan 6 2019
Theatre / children's circus
All ages: try out circus skills with Can't Sit Still
Creative Workspace, Withywood: Friday, Jan 4 2019 11am
Theatre / Closer Each Day
Wardrobe's brilliant improvised soap, now 150 episodes in and counting
: Monday, Jan 14 2019 - Monday, Jul 8 2019
Theatre / Circus
BS3's acta mark 250 years of circus with their own devised play
: Thursday, Dec 6 2018 - Saturday, Jan 5 2019
Theatre / Comedy
High-energy, action-packed comedy show
: Friday, Dec 7 2018 - Friday, Mar 1 2019
Theatre / Family theatre
Spoken word, acrobatics, dance... and scientific reasoning
St Werburghs Community Centre: Saturday, Jan 5 2019 11am
Theatre / Black Theatre
The Wardrobe's black theatre strand returns for another season
The Wardrobe Theatre: Tuesday, Jan 8 2019 7pm
Theatre / Bristol Old Vic Young Company
BOV Young Company and Wardrobe Ensemble co-pro
: Wednesday, Jan 9 2019 - Saturday, Jan 12 2019
Theatre / Motown
Hit West End musical tells the Motown story
: Thursday, Jan 10 2019 - Saturday, Feb 2 2019
Theatre / Comedy
The unofficial funeral for every Little Chef
The Wardrobe Theatre: Tuesday, Jan 15 2019 7:30pm
Theatre / Emily Souter Johnson
Heartwarming tale of love, laughter and Dublin family life
: Wednesday, Jan 23 2019 7:30pm & Thursday, Jan 24 2019 7:30pm
Theatre / Angela Carter
Emma Rice launches her Bristol-based theatre company with Angela Carter's magical tale
: Wednesday, Jan 23 2019 - Saturday, Feb 16 2019
Theatre / Improbable
Improbable tell a true story of political protest, power and football
: Thursday, Jan 24 2019 - Sunday, Jan 27 2019
Theatre / Social Commentary
What happens when a community stops talking?
: Wednesday, Jan 30 2019 7:30pm & Thursday, Jan 31 2019 7:30pm
Theatre / Comedy
Live music, heartache and belly-laughs from Tangram Theatre
: Wednesday, Jan 30 2019 8:15pm & Thursday, Jan 31 2019 8:15pm
Theatre / Angela Carter
Adaptations of two Angela Carter short stories
: Saturday, Jan 26 2019 - Monday, Jan 28 2019