Alex Farrow (host and compere of Oxford’s Jericho Comedy) presents what he thinks is the first live, in-person comedy show of 2021. In preparation for the loosening of lockdown restrictions, Farrow has prepared a stand-up show all about bats, adapted as a walking tour for the great outdoors. With open-air ventilation and sticking strictly to the rule of six, Bat Chat starts on Monday March 29th in Port Meadow, Oxford.
Bat Chat is allowed as per the rules on gatherings for either groups of six or two households and proved an instant sell-out, with a family of five booking. The show is essentially a comedy-bat-safari across Oxford’s Port Meadow. But is five people really an audience? Well supposedly five is closer to the average for an Edinburgh show attendance, so perhaps standing in fields is the new Edinburgh fringe. If it’s good enough for a normal Edinburgh Fringe, it’s good enough for 2021!
Alex has been the resident compere and host of the award-winning Jericho Comedy for the last five years, but why now performing in fields? “Over the summer we hosted and booked outdoor shows in fields, pub gardens, loads of drive-ins and even a couple of floating shows with the audience and performers on boats. Doing a guided bat stand-up show at dusk in the beautiful Port Meadow definitely seemed like a logical next step”.
So why bats? First and foremost bats are funny, but they are also currently suffering from bad PR. The COVID-19 pandemic has a lot to answer for, including tarnishing the reputation of these night-time creatures. Alex would like to change that. The show is also an interesting glimpse at a less commonly experienced animal in the UK. There are 18 different bat species in the UK, but thanks to their nocturnal nature they’re not a mammal that most people encounter regularly.
The end of March is the opportune time for a comedy bat show as typically it’s in the warmer spring nights that bats come out of hibernation. It seems fitting that the first show of 2021 should coincide with bats coming out of hibernation, “as the nocturnal comedians of the UK also exit their lockdown hibernation”. The show promises to be plenty of outdoor fun, but eating the bats “is strictly not allowed”.
After the first Bat Chat comedy-safari on 29th March, Alex is planning a series of outdoor stand-up shows around Oxford, including beside the River Cherwell, where bats often swoop to feed on river born insects. Those shows will take place nearby to the Cherwell boathouse following on from the success of Jericho Comedy's punting shows there last summer.
