Sam Hawkins
News
The Last Laugh: BSU Graduate Sam Hawkins opens award-winning comedy club
Thursday, 28 May, 2026Life after graduation can be a particularly uncertain time for many students, with the path ahead being one of opportunity and change. For Contemporary Arts Practice graduate, Sam Hawkins, this period of his life would become a defining moment that would go on to shape his career, ultimately leading to Sam creating Bath's only underground comedy venue, The Jester’s comedy club.
Graduating in 2020, during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, Sam Hawkins reflected on the uncertainty he faced post-graduation and the journey that subsequently followed.
“I graduated in 2020 which was at the peak of lockdown and then sort of just hid for 6 months, I moved back home then after, tried to save up a bit money, moved back to Bath, lived in a horrible flat, took a job in a pub. And that pub because of lockdown and COVID and everything, wanted more people in the door. So put on more events.”
It was during this period Sam was able to revisit and reconnect with ideas and projects originally explored during his degree. As Sam reflected:
“I'd put on a couple of comedy shows during my degree as part of the end point of my course. And then I did that every Wednesday for about a year and a half, two years.”
From this point on, Sam’s comedy career snowballed from a few short shows during his degree to performing at festivals like the ‘The poor Mans Fringe’, a festival that offers a stage for comedians who can’t make it to the Edinburgh Fringe.
This momentum would lead Sam into forming his very own comedy club: The Jesters, Bath's only underground comedy venue. The venue is designed to bring the newest talent and established names in UK comedy, all within spitting distance of Bath’s historic town centre.
Reflecting on his time at The Jesters Comedy club, Sam described one particularly memorable moment:
“We did a 12-hour live comedy marathon, which was a crazy idea, The whole community kind of got behind it. Our 12-hour marathon ended with a three hour long open mic with no brakes. And at about 10:00 we saw John Bishop walking towards the club, and he ended up closing it out. So, it was kind of one of those things that because we'd managed to roll with the punches and do something that was creatively very much of us and what our brand and space in bodies, we managed to create something really cool and unexpected”
When asked what advice Sam would give to BSU students who are unsure on what do after graduation, he said:
“Give yourself the space to learn and give yourself the space to really embrace it, like not being in education for a little while because it is scary, but also you did those three years to give you those skills and experiences that would help your life afterwards.”
As well as growing The Jesters Comedy club, Sam has picked up two awards at the 2026 Bath Creative awards which aims to celebrate the most high-profile creative, tech, cultural businesses and individuals in the region. Sam is a shining example of a BSU alumni making a valued impact in our local community.