Some of you may remember back in January I posted about my involvement in a thing called Belly Laughs? It’s something which was set up by (my now good friend) comedian Mark Olver in 2018. His idea was to independent food and drink businesses pull punters through their doors in a traditionally quiet month of January whilst raising money for charity with the help of his comedian friends.
I had no idea what I was letting myself in for because this year was the biggest series of events yet! Mark, Naomi and I organised 35 gigs in restaurants, cafes and community centres in four weeks, with a series of comedians appearing at each. We raised over £11,000 for the Julian Trust Homeless Shelter and put an estimated £40,000 into the local food and drink economy along the way.
Guess what, we’re doing it again!
On Sunday 10th May at 7:30pm sharp, Mark will be bringing his own unique brand of belly laughs back to life for one special night of lockdown entertainment. With contributions from some of his comedian friends and familiar Bristol faces (including Russell Howard, Jon Richardson, Alex Lovell, Jayde Adams, John Robins, Joe Wilkinson and more) he’ll be celebrating our glorious city whilst raising money for FareShare South West, Julian Trust, Bristol Old Vic and the Great Western Air Ambulance charities.
Mark said “We do stuff in that area where food, comedy and doing good stuff for others meets. We’re known most for our January gigs but the world’s gone a little bit crazy right now and I think Belly Laughs at home could be the antidote to that – for a couple of hours anyway. I’m always blown away by people’s generosity at these events and am sure we can raise some money for these great causes whilst having a bit of a laugh at the same time”.
We’re asking people to make a donation of £4.00 or whatever they can afford before watching the gig live on 10th May and at the last check, we’d already raised £2,000 in less than 48 hours!
Head to crowdfunding/bellylaughs to donate and receive viewing instructions for the night itself.
It wouldn’t be a Belly Laughs gig without a good meal so we’re also encouraging everyone to join us with a takeaway from their favourite Bristol independent (be it food or drink or both!). Both Lost and Grounded and Espensen Spirit have got special Belly Laughs deals on for the evening. I’ve ordered both (ooops).
Even if you’re not Bristolian, this will be a fun evening of entertainment. All the money raised is going to great causes so why not join in? I’m excited to be back with the team and can’t wait to see the gig on the 10th.
Now to choose what food we’ll eat…