Interview: Up the Antics

Welcome to 2018 in Bristol’s comedy landscape: and one of the first regular nights out of the blocks is The Antics Joke Show (“the best stand-up, sketch and improv in town” – Wriggle Bristol), which returns to its regular haunt, Stokes Croft’s Café Kino, on January 27 with a headline set from Bristol-based sci-fi improv group (wow, nice niche, guys) Real Positive Poles, plus sketches from house team Up The Antics and stand-ups from the local circuit and further afield.

The Poles will grace the evening with their acclaimed Spon Trek: The Next Improvisation, in which a brand new Star Trek episode is made up completely on the spot. Every episode is inspired by an audience suggestion of the title they’ve always wanted to see, and the show is suitable for all levels of Star Trek and improv enthusiasm. “A breath of fresh air in a sea of increasingly bland comedy,” was Edfringe Review’s approving verdict.

This month’s Antics Joke Show headliners, Real Positive Poles

Elsewhere on the night, AJS’s house sketch team Up The Antics promise another hilarious combination of golden oldies from their hit fringe show Geek Salad, as well as some brand new material. And there’s stand-up from Marti (“hilariously naïve” – Arthur Smith) who brings a European perspective to British quirks and hang-ups; and Rinkoo Barpaga, a fully deaf storyteller / comedian who performs in British Sign Language with a BSL interpreter.

Deaf storyteller / comedian Rinkoo Barpaga also features on the January lineup

Your MC for the night is Ben Behrens, a Bristol stand-up and theatre maker who’s contributed to BBC Radio 4 Extra’s Newsjack as well as writing the acclaimed Captain Morgan instalments 1 and 2 for Bristol’s Tap Tap Theatre.

Luke Mallison is one of the show’s founders – and a stand-up, improviser and sketch performer in his own right, with support slots for the likes of Russell Howard and Nathan Caton to his name. “We’ve been running for over a year now, and we’ve had some amazing acts from the local and national comedy circuit, including Susan Harrison, Stuart Goldsmith and the sketch troupe Jollyboat,” Luke explains. “While drafting ideas for a new show, we looked at the Bristol comedy circuit and thought that a monthly variety night featuring sketch, improv and stand-up comedians would be a perfect fit, as we could showcase some incredible talent as well having our own platform for our sketch and improv work.

Antics Joke Show co-founder Luke Mallison

“Bristol seems to have taken to the show, and we get full audiences most months! There is always a great atmosphere, which is partly due to Cafe Kino’s laid-back vibe. Highlights so far have included John Gallagher’s One Board Man, a one-man improv show where he draws a member of the audience on a whiteboard and improvises with that drawing. Another memorable moment was our November sketch set, where we completely threw away our Edinburgh Fringe show to test out a bunch of new ideas. The sense of fun and energy became infectious!

“As well as this, we have some incredible headliners coming up in the rest of 2018, including The Death Hilarious, The Idle Playthings and What’s Your Flavour? We’re so thrilled that we’ve received such a fantastic response for our first year of Antics Joke Shows – and we can’t wait to see what the next year has in store for us!”

The Antics Joke Show ft. Real Positive Poles Cafe Kino, Saturday, Jan 27, 7.30pm, £5. For more info and to book tickets, visit uptheantics.co.uk

Read more: Best of Bristol 2017: Comedy