Brightclub is one of the UCL Engagement Unit’s projects. Dr Steve Cross pursuades a bunch of hapless academics to perform stand-up comedy on a particular theme, each for about 5-8 mins whilst a real comedian or two compares.
I performed at the ‘metal‘ themed night a while back, and was pursuaded (okay, volunteered happily!) to perform again last Tuesday. Normally BrightClub is held in the side room of a pub – maximum capacity around 80 people.
This time, we sold out Bloomsbury Theatre. Max capacity 500+!
I have to admit my set wasn’t quite as impressive as some of the others – I didn’t manage to insert much in the way of solid factual education. However, I did make people laugh (quite a lot I think) which was very satisfying. In fact, it did feel more satisfying than writing stuff of boring lab things! Next time I might even tell people about it before the gig, rather than waiting until it’s safely over!
EDIT:
Turns out that other people really enjoyed it too! You can see reviews here:
Camden Gazette
Islington Gazette
Londonist
London Nature blog
ClaireyRoss’ blog
Looks like the exploding corpse topic did at least make it into people’s minds, and that’s very satisfying. I was worried people wouldn’t take much away from my set, but it looks like I shouldn’t have worried too much.
Ruth Fillery-Travis 