The return of Soft Cabaret!

Are you having fun? Well, are you?!

Ever considered what it would be like to be a love-sick goal post?

Happy smiley audience.

Crowds amass before the second half begins.

Escapology (No not the Robbie Williams album)

Action shot

"Are you sure they are tight enough? Don't mash his spuds!"

Never be Bard from the Steps

For those of you who have yet to experience the wonders of Soft Cabaret, you genuinely are missing out.

Returning to SHOP, the Bard of Windmill Hill and Fakir Darren again had us rolling in the aisles (ROFLing to younger readers) with their intelligent poetry and comedic performances, respectively.

The Bard opened the nights entertainment regaling uswith poetic tales on the theme of 'time', from love sick goalposts to naughty knobs. Darren followed up with feats of human escapology including passing himself through a metal coat hanger (!!) and releasing himself from an over sized straight jacket.

The second half of the performance saw the Bard take the stage once more. We were treated to more 'romantic' offerings, a running theme with the Bard, where the question of how we would make love if we were crocodiles, or say penguins, were offered. Darren's second half performance took a less energetic, yet no less enjoyable turn as he imparted his impressive historical knowledge and stories that induced modern tears (of laughter).

We really hope they they return again soon!

You can catch them very soon as Soft Cabaret take part in the Folk Festival at the Colston Hall over the May Bank Holiday!

April at SHOP - No Foolin!

APRIL

We have had to think really really hard about fluffy kittens on shelving to get over the trauma of our flood...YES, YOU HEARD RIGHT FLOOD! April showers poured in from the flat above and drowned our little SHOP in at least quite a bit of water. Luckily we had a lifebouy out the back and a dinghy to make our escape on and everything is now back to business as unusual.

NEWS

Sunday Girls
SHOP is going a hardcore 7 days a week, with Sunday opening starting in April and hopefully onwards! Pop by for a Sunday meander and say hello to our lovely volunteers Leila and Asa.

The Easter Bunny
SHOP's favourite fictional charater the Easter Bunny is hopping into town again this month. We take Easter very seriously down at SHOP and need at least a few days of to fully concentrate on the gluttonynous.

Easter opening hours are:
Good Friday - 12pm - 4pm
Easter Saturday - 11am - 7pm
Easter Sunday - CLOSED
Easter Monday - CLOSED

EVENTS

Christmas Steps Artisan Market
Saturday 2nd April – 11am – 4pm

This monthly market runs every first Saturday of the month throughout the year. You can expect the wonderful teetering charm of the artisan stalls and the same high standard of beautiful crafts and wares as always, as well as the lovely shops and cafes surrounding the market.

To book a stall email: christmasstepsartsquarter@yahoo.co.uk

FFI: www.christmasstepsartisanmarket.blogspot.com

Soft Cabaret
Friday 8th April – 8pm – £5 /£2
(or whatever you can afford)

Soft Cabaret is rolling into SHOP again in April, headed up by the Bard of Windmill Hill and Fakir Darren. We are once again looking forward to a quite ridiculously funny and touching mixture of sonnets, storytelling, stand-up and some dubious magic! Not to be missed!

37th Chamber
Saturday 10th April – 7.30pm onwards – £2

The regular 37^th Chamber Film Night at SHOP - expect the usual grindhouse and kung-fu classics from these Arts Space regulars. Look out for their new Zine coming soon too!

FFI: Search ‘37^th Chamber’ on Facebook

Record Club
Tuesday 19th April - 7:30pm – 10pm

The aim of the night is to play 2 or 3 long play records and to really appreciate the music. These records might be old classics, forgotten gems or brand spanking new. The records are usually nominated by the people in the club (via a comment on the blog or our twitter account) and voted on in the week before the night.

However! The third Record Club is slightly different. ‘How?’ We hear you cry! Well, to celebrate and support Independent Record Shop Day, we are asking people to buy a brand spanking new piece of vinyl and bring it along on the night (with proof of purchase!). All those who have bought a record will then make a short speech in support of the record before a vote on which two to listen to.

SHOP will be open at 7:30 and we’ll aim to start playing the first record at eight. Feel free to bring some nibbles and drinks along.

http://recordclub.posterous.com/

www.twitter.com/record_club

We Robot
Saturday 23rd April – 11am – 7pm

As part of The Love Of It’s programme of events for Pay It Forward Week, SHOP is getting together with good friends and community-colleagues Tenderfoot to create a Robot World in the arts space!

Come along and fashion your robot alter-ego out of all our bits and bobs and help make a robot utopia!

Easter Egg Hunt
Saturday 23rd April – 11am – 7pm

SHOP’s annual Easter Egg Hunt takes place in SHOP all day on Easter Saturday.

Come and hunt for the choccie eggs hidden around SHOP and scoff them immediately on discovery! Try to get a good amount smeared around your face for added comedy value.

Record Club: REVIEW!

The second Record Club revolved into SHOP last night and what mighty good fun it was too! The two records that got the most votes were, David Bowie 'Hunky Dory' and DJ Shadow 'Endtroducing'.

Unfortunately, Endtroducing got bumped due to the nominator coming down with the vomitus maximus, so a quick vote between the tied third places, Genesis 'Lambs Lie Down on Broadway' and Big Black 'Songs about Fucking' took place. Each nominator made an impassioned speech to sway the votes. Songs about Fucking won, we think this may be to do with the interest in the use of a drum machine on a rock record and absolutely nothing to di with the title.

FFI: Record Club Blog / Record Club Twitter

Here's some pics innit!

Could that be a bit of dancing?!

Discussing sleeve notes. Maybe.

Beer and nuts.

Simon demonstrates his waitering skills.

Red hot graphic turntable shot. XXX.

More record chat. Possibly.

Snacking.

NEW STOCK!

Just a small selection of the new homeware, women's and men's clothing we've just been inundated with at SHOP!

HOMEWARE!

MENS!

WOMENS!

'Ten' Screening: REVIEW!

Brighton-based Graphic designer and now filmaker, Simon Parkin bought his fascinating and inspiring film, 'Ten' to show at SHOP last night (appropriately enough on the 10th March).

It chronicled ten seconds of Simon's life for every day of 2010 and the result is a really interesting social document. During discussion after the screening, all those present decided that it had made them want to do the same thing, as it is not often we get to look at our lives quite so objectively. It also by turns made people hungry, want to go to the pub, yearn for summer - and fall in love with Simon's dog!

The first month can be viewed here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sh0UX6T5RRI and Simon will be showing the film in other small venues throughout 2011, so have a look at the facebook link.

Lights Off, Radio On

Last night saw the lights turned down low and the radio turned up high with the airing of a BBC adaptation of Metropolis.

We all got comfy and then SHOP was plunged into darkness, as we concentrated our minds on the play. SHOP became a distopian world (hard to believe, we know!) as the play unfolded and we were enveloped in the story. We won't spoil it for you, in case you want to search it out for yourself on iplayer.

We are hoping to welcome to more plays into the darkness again soon, so watch this space...

The distopian world that is SHOP

Yet another picture of Nick on our blog, he organised it dontcha know?!

Taking care of the crunchy snacks before silence descends for the airing.

Erm ... tea drinking. In the dark. Extreme tea-drinking!

MARCH EVENTS AT SHOP!

28^th Feb – 5^th March / 12pm – 6pm / FREE

8 Drawings

by Matthew Douglas

Matthew Douglas has been making temporary work since 2002, his output has taken the form of sculptures, actions and installations. His most recent work, including work on steel (Bristol/London) and sculptures (Berlin) have only existed for the duration of their exhibition.

The works exhibited in EIGHT DRAWINGS were produced during the latter months of 2010 and form some of his most industrious and intricate work to date.

Thursday 3^rd March / 7.15pm – 8.15pm / FREE

Lights Off, Radio On

Airing: a BBC radio play adaptation set in Fritz Lang’s Metropolis (59 minutes)

Join us sitting in SHOP, in the dark, to listen to a radio play as selected by the ‘Lights Off, Radio On’ team. As the visual is rendered invisible, instead let your imaginations explore the dystopian corporate world of Metropolis.

No talking, loud eating, or jogging/aerobics, please. Hot beverages will be on offer to sit with you through the proceedings.

Saturday 5^th March / 11am – 4pm / FREE

Christmas Steps Community Artisan Market

This monthly market runs every first Saturday of the month throughout the year. You can expect the wonderful teetering charm of the artisan stalls and the same high standard of beautiful crafts and wares as always, as well as the lovely shops and cafes surrounding the market.

To book a stall email: christmasstepsartsquarter@yahoo.co.uk

7^th – 12^th March / 12pm – 6pm / FREE

Oneman Travelplan

By Daniel le Mesurier

In March 2008 Daniel le Mesurier left Britain to spend several months traveling across west africa, this experience yielded a wealth of material : hundreds of photographs and drawings, an enriched travel diary and weeks of video footage.

In ONEMAN TRAVELPLAN, Le Mesurier and Matthew Douglas present a selection of this archive including an edited film, original drawings and limited edition photographs.

Thursday 10^th March / 7.30pm / £2

‘Ten’

by Simon Parkin

In 2010 Simon Parkin filmed ten seconds of every single day. The film Ten is the result. An hour long documentation of a year in the life.

There’s a preview here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sh0UX6T5RRI And Simon himself will be along on the 10th March, to introduce it himself.

For further info, lookey here: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Ten/164232810288933

Saturday 12^th March / 7.30pm – 10pm / £2

37^th Chamber

The regular 37^th Chamber Film Night at SHOP - expect the usual grind-house and kung-fu classics from these Arts Space regulars.

18^th – 24^th March / 12pm – 6pm / FREE

Abstract Nightmares

by Aaron Boys and Nathan Nicholson

‘Abstract Nightmares' explores the human condition through painting and illustration.

Tuesday 22^nd March / 8pm / FREE

Record Club

The second Bristol Record Club is here!

Record Club is a chance to sit down and dedicate the time needed to enjoy important music with other fans. On the night, 2 LP’s will be played - these records might be old classics, forgotten gems or brand spanking new. The records will be nominated by the people in the club (via a comment on the blog or our twitter account) and voted on in the week before the night.

If you love a record nominate it, the records that win the vote will be the ones we play, so send them over to the log now!

SHOP will be open at 7.30pm and we’ll aim to start playing the first record at 8pm. Feel free to bring some nibbles and drinks along.