'We've really gone to town on this...'

The club is to move from the site it has occupied for 12 years, to the old Academy cinema, a Grade II listed building on the opposite side of the street.

The building is said to have inspired Cary Grant to go into the movies, as he lived just 50 yards away when he was a youngster.

It was a cinema from 1914 to 1955, when it became a Christadelphian Hall. In 1999, it was sold to JD Wetherspoons and became a pub, The Magic Box, which closed in 2006.

Jesters has spent more than eight months revamping the site, ready for it to open as a 350-seat comedy venue – almost twice as big as its current room – on January 31.

Guy Bentham-Hill, Bristol City Council’s listed buildings officer, said a comedy club was ‘the kindest use we could imagine for this building in the modern era’.

The club – which now has a 3am licence at weekends - had initially planned to open before Christmas, but the extend of the rebuilding work led to delays.

Jesters owner David Trew added: ‘We’ve really gone to town on this. Because it’s listed, we’ve had to restore all the original features, and it looks magnificent.

‘ It should really put us in the premier league of UK comedy clubs in the UK.’

Published: 11 Jan 2008