OK, we’re taking a break in May (in Brighton, at least) during the festival and return in June for a regular Brighton night plus a collaboration with the Brighton Japanese Festival in St Bartholomew’s Square. Enjoy some first class Japanese nosh and learn about ‘The wonderful worlds of Manga artist Miyazaki’, courtesy of Tim Pilcher; discover how ‘Japanese cities work as a living organism’ from Cara Courage and Jim Stephenson, while Jonathan Swain tells the extraordinary story of a unique and bizarre group of Japanese artists from 1950s-1970s.

Regular Catalyst night: Thursday June 14th
Tickets in advance from:
www.wegottickets.com/event/166332

Japacatalyst Thursday June 28th 8.30pm
Tickets from brightonjapan.com

REGULAR CATALYST CLUB APRIL 12TH LATEST MUSIC BAR
This month there’ll be an honest to goodness regular night on April 12th. Please note that the next Brighton one is not until June. For tickets: www.wegottickets.com/event/155465

Our second Oxford-based Catalyst is themed around music with passionate talks from writers and film directors.

CATALYST MUSIC SPECIAL APRIL 26TH OXFORK CAFE OXFORD 7.30-8pm £5

JON SPIRA is director of Anyone Can Play Guitar he’ll be talking about his love of Music on Film
AMANDA WARD will be challenging Elvis Costello’s notion that ‘writing about music is like dancing about architecture’.
GRAHAM JONES, author of Whatever Happened to Record Shops (later turned into the film, Last Shop Standing) will discuss his love of English record shop.
We might show the odd film too…
tickets: www.wegottickets.com/event/162863

After two nights with Brighton Science Festival during February, plus an honest-to-goodness regular night with roadkill art, disgust and comic book romance as our topics, March and April return to normal: second Thursday of each month.
We are also starting a new night at Oxfork Cafe in March, with talks on the history of gin, postal mischief and games.

To order tickets in advance follow the links below:

March 1st, Oxfork Cafe:
www.wegottickets.com/event/154243

March 8th: Latest Music Bar:
www.wegottickets.com/event/150359

April 12th: Latest Music Bar:
www.wegottickets.com/event/155465

Jacob Funnell celebrates a damned fine moustache

For February we have a full schedule courtesy of the Brighton Science Festival, with two science dates (Thursday 9th and Thursday 23rd) packed with talks on hedgehogs, disasters, videogames and erm, custard!

A regular honest-to-goodness Catalyst will also be running on Friday February 24th. As always, the nature of these talks will be kept a closely guarded secret, known only to Dr Bramwell and a Nepalese mystic (whose identity is also a closely guarded secret).

The Catalyst Club has been selling out these last few months; we recommend getting your tickets in advance from the latest music bar website.

Thursday 9th Feb Science Festival:

http://www.wegottickets.com/event/148706

Thursday 23rd Feb Science Festival:

http://www.wegottickets.com/event/148761

Regular Catalyst Club Friday 24th February:

http://www.wegottickets.com/event/148772

Dr Bramwell x

Our 100th Catalyst night on 8th December went off with a bang, thanks to an exploration of virtual reality and a rubber hand from Katie Genevieve, Matthew Jeffrey’s skilled reading of M&M lyrics, and Matt Rudkin who explained why Mother Theresa may have been a mutant.

As a Xmas present for everyone present, Mark Bennett kindly made a Ken Campbell inspired 4-hour DVD of alternative Xmas telly, all culled from youtube. Those who missed out can pick up a copy for free from Ecologicool on Sydney Street.

With the continued popularity of the night, we return on January 12th with plans to sell 65 tickets in advance from the link below and to make 30 tickets available on the night after 6pm. In the event of a sellout, the night will also be screened for free upstairs.

We’re also hosting a free ‘best of’ night in January for free which is being filmed for telly. For more details, join the mailing list…

Happy new year
Dr Bramwell x

www.wegottickets.com/event/147139

Yvonne Luna tries the cold water treatment

November’s Catalyst was another busy one with a Brighton theme running through the talks. We learned how Yvonne Luna dealt with depression through a variety of unconventional and sometimes alarming means, finally settling on joining the Brighton Swimming Club who plunder the icy waters every morning at 7am, every day of the year!
Our genial host, Dr Bramwell talked about the history of Mail Art and mischief with the postal service (including his own exploits) while James Burt encouraged us all to go on a psychogeographical tour of the city to see it with fresh eyes!

December 8th will be our 100th official Catalyst Club (excluding our occasional excursions to London and Oxford) and to celebrate there’ll be a little party afterwards upstairs with a few nibbles, kindly provided by the venue.

After eight and a half years however, word has finally got out, meaning our last few night have sold out and people have had to be sent home empty handed to watch Eastenders and an ITV documentary about miniature ponies. Some of you have also been coming for years which means a lot to me and I’d hate to lose you to the dark side (i.e. Five Rhythms Dance Classes, hot yoga, improvised juggling workshops etc).
We’re not looking to expand just yet so for now, to guarantee entry, please book in advance from: www.wegottickets.com/event/139886 and all will be well in the world.

Dr Bramwell x

Catalyst Club this October featured the wonderful Betty Mulcahy who, at 91, is our oldest ever speaker (closely followed by Mike Gaddon at 87). She talked about her passion for poetry and how she became a professional performer of poetry, travelling the world, writing books and making films. At the end we were treated to some EE Cummings and Dylan Thomas and spared Pam Ayres.
Richard Robinson (creator of Brighton Science Festival) also took us through the ‘History of Everything’ in under 14 minutes and Junk TV’s Simon Wilkinson explained the shocking but fascinating history of ‘Fractional Banking’.

We return November 10th, same time, same place. I’ve got a feeling this might be our 100th Catalyst Club so there’ll probably be a free mince pie or two. Tickets available in advance from:

www.wegottickets.com/event/133833

Dr Bramwell x

Farewell Drako Zarhazar, the Brighton eccentric. Former Dali model and performer, Drako personified the Catalyst ethos for passion: his joy for life was unequalled and his Basil Brush laugh infectious. After a car crash, coma and subsequent memory loss in 1991, Drako externalised his lost inner world by filling his house with notes and ephemera. It became a work of art. His house really ought to be turned into a museum.