My Bristol Favourites: Dani Johns

Dani Johns is a comedian, compere and all round enthusiastic Bristolian. She runs comedy nights at Smoke & Mirrors and North Street Standard, where she strives for diversity on all her line ups.

Described as “one of the South West’s most promising rising stars”, she has recently performed alongside Jon Richardson, Nish Kumar and Rosie Jones.

On Monday at Smoke & Mirrors, Dani joins Jessie Nixon and Millie Haswell to present  a preview of their Edinburgh show, Dumbelles, a charming, silly exploration of life as three young women try to work out what the hell is going on.

These are Dani’s top-five Bristol favourites:

St Mary’s Churchyard, Henbury

The grave of Scipio Africanus was vandalised in June 2020 but has since been repaired – photo: Martin Booth

“Without sounding totally morbid and a bit mental, I am weirdly obsessed with cemeteries and have been since I was a child. I think it’s the result of a 90s childhood spent watching The Addams Family and Casper the Friendly Ghost on repeat. My Nan used to take me to Blaise Castle and I’d insist on visiting the graveyard of St Mary’s Church next door. It has a number of very old graves, including that of Scipio Africanus who is one of very few slaves known to have a memorial.”

Chilli Daddy

Chilli Daddy began as a market stall and now has three permanent locations – photo: Martin Booth

“I am obsessed with Chilli Daddy. They serve amazing Szechuan street food and I treat myself to one of their tofu noodle hot pots every week. I didn’t even like tofu until I tried theirs, that’s how good it is! All the dishes come with variable spice levels, between 0 and 5. I’m quite chuffed to admit I started on a 0 and I’m now up to a 3. Pretty cool, right?”

Weird Bristol books

https://www.instagram.com/p/CcaieGlso6T/

“Local legend Charlie Revelle-Smith has written two Weird Bristol books and they’re absolutely brilliant. They contain all sorts of weird and wonderful information about our city; the good, the bad and the bonkers. Best of all, the chapters are split into different areas of the city and include a walking map so you can follow the route and see the oddities for yourself. I’ve done a few of these walks and twice I’ve bumped into fellow Weird Bristol walkers! Both times I squealed with excitement which I think freaked them out a bit, oops.”

Smoke & Mirrors

Dani is performing a preview of her Edinburgh show at Smoke & Mirrors on Monday – photo: Martin Booth

“Now I must admit I’m biased on this one, as I run a comedy night in this very venue, but Smoke & Mirrors on Denmark Street is a Bristol institution. A unique oddity in itself, Smoke & Mirrors is a magic-themed pub which opened in 2012. Since then, its hosted countless magic and comedy shows and has served many famous faces. The theatre room even has a ‘wall of fame’ which showcases some of the stars who have graced the stage.”

Victorian drinking fountain

The fountain set into the exterior wall of Market House on St Nicholas Street was installed to celebrate Queen Victoria’s 40th birthday in 1859 – photo: Martin Booth

“Okay, this one is a bit random but bear with me. Behind St Nick’s Market is a Victorian drinking fountain, which features the face of none other than Queen Victoria herself. Its original purpose was to offer fresh drinking water, as an alternative to alcohol. That’s right! They really thought they could put people off booze, by offering free water instead! I’m sure there was some logical thinking behind it, but it does make me laugh. It’ll take more than a stony faced replica of Queen Victoria to put us Bristolians off our cider. If anything, it might encourage us to have another.”

Main photo: Jonathan Bowcott

Read more: My Bristol Favourites: Abi Clarke

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