Since the last time I went to a stand-up comedy session at the Riproar Comedy (read about our visit here), they have been moving from place to place and now, they have finally found their own space right in the city centre, just down from Primark, next door to the Old Fire Station. It is the evolution of the legendary comedy club Jesters Comedy owned and promoted by David Crew which was located at the Metropolis in Gloucester Road. They are due to launch the new venue on 1st November in Union Street and this blog had the opportunity to interview David Trew.
David Trew: "After we left our premises in Cheltenham Road, I ran the new Riproar brand from hired venues. The first was a performing arts centre, owned by a Bristol Cathedral Choir School. The second was the fifth floor of Arnolfini by the harbourside. We became very dissatisfied with the way the school treated us, so we moved to Arnolfini. That arrangement came to an abrupt end because of a deal they were considering at the time, with a hotel group, to take over permanently, the space we were using. That deal never happened, but we were asked to leave regardless. I concluded that Arnolfini just didn't like having a popular comedy club in their building, because they believed it conflicted with their 'contemporary art' offering."
GLPCB: Where will you be located from now and and what the innovations will this new location have?
David Trew: "The new venue is ours. It's three storeys and offers the following: A cafe bar on the ground floor, the comedy club on the first floor, and office space for creatives on the second. It's in a fantastic location, with huge, passing footfall, offers 4000 square feet per floor, and has been fitted to our own specification. We have signed a 20 year lease, so are not subject to the whims of the venue owners, as before."
GLPCB: You are planning to launch this Saturday, 1st November. How are works going so far? Everything under control?
GLPCB: You are planning to launch this Saturday, 1st November. How are works going so far? Everything under control?
David Trew: "Refitting new venues to a deadline, (I've done a few, now), is always exhausting, stressful, and goes to the wire; I've not done one yet where the cleaners aren't sweeping up the builder's mess, as the first customers walk through the door. I doubt this new venue will be any different."
GLPCB: ... and what have you prepared for the launch day?
David Trew: "For the launch three of my favourite (and the club's best) comedians will be performing: Nick Page, Daliso Chaponda, and Pierre Hollins. I'm sure it'll feel like gigging with old friends, both on stage and in the audience."
GLPCB: Once the venue is launched, what activities, shows or events would you highlight for our readers?
David Trew: "I believe we book the best comedians on the circuit, so I'd recommend any weekend show, for that reason. The Christmas period is nearly upon us, and there are some stellar line-ups during December - particularly on New Year's Eve. New also, for Thursdays, is 'Come Quickly, It's Cerys' our new Thursday show hosted by Cerys Nelmes, which showcases a lot of the newer, younger talent on the UK circuit, as well as the circuit's headliners. And once a month for Sundays in the New Year, we have the wonderful 'What The Frock Comedy' shows coming to our venue - all women line-ups of the best female comedians on the circuit."
New, exciting times are coming for the Riproar comedy company. From the blog, we wish all the best and a successful launch day! :)
SOME USEFUL INFORMATION
Website: http://www.riproarcomedy.co.uk/
Location: 15 Union Gate, 63 Union Street, BS1 2DU
David Trew is a crook and shouldn't be in business. He left the two venues referred to above because he owed each of them thousands in back rent. He abandoned the school venue without notice owing at least £4000, citing spurious reasons for leaving. The Arnolfini arts centre asked David Trew to leave because of his increasingly obnoxious behaviour towards staff members and the small matter of owing at least £8000 in back rent. He likes to give the impression that it was the Arnolfini reneging on a business arrangement but, in fact, the Fini could not stand having to deal with him anymore and did not want him occupying their top floor facility anymore.
ReplyDeleteDavid Trew owes money to various people including comedians, architects, agents, former employees etc.
He has now persuaded gullible investors to put money into his new project in Broadmead because he has none of his own. or if he does have money it has been syphoned out of his dodgy business dealings.
This man is a crook of the highest order and should be avoided at all costs. Customers who patronise his new venue may not care about what goes on behind the scenes but Bristol's business community should be very wary of this individual.
Hello Anonymous,
DeleteFirst of all, thank you very much for commenting. I really appreciate that one takes the time to express his/her opinion.
Secondly, I am not aware of anything that you are mentioning. Obviously, someone involved would have a better view of what is exactly going on "behind the scenes" and it seems that you are aware of the other side. So, thank you for sharing that as well.
However, I find it coward that you are covering you identity when criticizing the man. I would have thought that if you are brave enough to publish these things on a comment, you would also be brave enough to deal with all the consequences. It would be the fair thing to do.
Of course, these are only my thoughts so you could agree or disagree. Anyhow, thanks for taking your time to comment and I hope you like the blog! :)
GLPCB
I used to work with David Trew and I still work at one of the venues mentioned above. I also know some of the people he owes money to. I just think it is important that people are made aware of the implications of working with this individual. There is no need to identify myself. If you think my post is inappropriate or libellous then take it down. That's your choice.
ReplyDeleteTo the cock with the anonymous comment. I have worked with Dave for the last
Delete3 years and have also known Dave for the last 8 In this time I have worked with him in various venues (Bristol Cathedral Choir School, Arnolfini And Steam Cafe Bar the current venu) I can categorically state that these accusations you have displayed are a lie and I find it highly repulsive that you would slate Dave over the internet. If you have a problem then state your name and we will contact you directly.
Thank you for taking your time to comment, Reece Follett. I apologise for taking long-ish to publish the comment but it is here now! :) There was something wrong with the website.
DeleteOh, no. I don't take any post down in the blog. I believe in the freedom of speech if it is well-reasoned regardless some people could disagree or dislike.
ReplyDeleteHello, David Trew here - nice to see my fan club on social media. ;-)
ReplyDeletePosting on social media, under anonymity, is indeed the height of cowardice.
I feel that I should reply. Riproar’s last two venues were The Cresswell Centre, owned by Bristol Cathedral Choir School, (Sept 2011 – March 2013), and Arnolfini, (March to August 2013).
Both times, we did quit the venues with rental fees outstanding. What ‘Anonymous’ has neglected to provide however, are the facts behind this.
At The Cresswell Centre, there was never any support, on the day, from any member of their staff. Every week, we had to deal with a myriad of technical issues, often unresolvable. The last gig there, in March, the ventilation system was set to cool, by blowing in cold air from outside. It was minus 2 degrees C. My customers nearly froze to death, and most left about a third of the way through the show. We lost several hundreds of pounds in bar takings, as well as a considerable amount of good will. We owed only £2000 in rentals, not the £4000 Anonymous, claims. I figured that this was the least Riproar should be paid in compensation.
If I thought our experience at Cresswell was bad, all was eclipsed by the behaviour of Arnolfini. I invested £15,000 building a bar, and installing a PA system, both of which I made available to Arnolfini to use outside of Riproar shows. I spent two months working solidly, hand-building the bar myself. We were given a nine-month contract, yet were asked to leave after just 14 weeks. No good reason was ever given – the story we were spun was about an imminent deal with the DeVere group to occupy the space we were using, that to this day, (two years later) has not happened.
Our lost earnings and the 15K investment totalled £83,000. I fully intend to sue for this. I just have to wait for a spare £20,000 to lodge with my lawyers, to get around the legal dodge Arnolfini pulled in order to get out of their obligations to Riproar. In my opinion, if anyone is the crook here, it is Arnolfini. Anonymous’s line about me being obnoxious, is an outright lie. I was polite and friendly to all Arnolfini staff, at all times. Perhaps their definition of ‘obnoxious’, is someone who is willing to share ideas, and speak for themselves. I found it especially amusing, having observed what I always thought to be a group of people who’d struggle to organise a chimps’ tea party. What would also be amusing, if it weren’t such an outrage, is how Arnolfini occupies prime city centre real estate space, paid for by an Arts Council grant to the tune of £750,000 a year. This is tax payers’ money, yet they see fit to leave three floors of the building unoccupied – around 30,000 square feet. Imagine how much rent they could achieve for this space! I was set to pay them £50,000 a year for two shows at the weekend, on their fifth floor. Yet Riproar clearly didn’t meet their exacting brand standards. There were several differences of opinion about my advertising, and how it didn’t fit with the Arnolfini brand. Frankly, I wish I had left Arnolfini ‘owing’ much more than just £8K - they destroyed my business for a year, and lost me around £83K in earnings.
So, Anonymous, perhaps you’d like to crawl out from behind your monitor and make yourself known. You have mixed some inaccurate facts with vitriol and libellous remarks. I’m looking forward to my day in court.