Mon 27 / 11 / 17
Brighton’s cheekiest author looks back on a journey that began in Europe and America but ended up at home
Brighton Chamber of Commerce invited David Bramwell, known best for his Cheeky Guides, to share his story of living by conviction and chasing dreams, not money. He is one of Brighton’s best kept secrets and was the guest speaker at the Chamber’s breakfast this morning (Friday 24 December) at Carluccio’s.
David, otherwise known as ‘Doctor Bramwell’, explained how he wanted to be a rock star but became a writer and a teacher instead. His first book, ‘The Cheeky Guide to Brighton’, was the city’s number one bestseller. Almost overnight a group of friends became local celebrities and developed a cottage industry. While David was the creative force behind the writing, one friend with business acumen negotiated sales, marketing including branding, sponsorship and distribution and another did photography and illustrations. The first Cheeky Guide sold in 42 bookshops across Sussex and beyond including Waterstones and Borders.
The team’s success led to an offer to develop a global brand writing Cheeky Guides for some vibrant cities in Britain and further afield. However, David said: “I wanted to diversify, it’s not always the case that what’s bigger is best.” After a few attempts to roll out Cheeky Guides nationally themselves, it was time for the group to part company professionally.
However, David continued writing on his own. He wrote a travel memoir with a difference called ‘The Number Nine Bus to Utopia.’ It’s a journey of self-discovery by a man looking for community and meaning at the end of a relationship. The journey ended with his discovery that, on his doorstep in Hanover, an American ex-pat, David Burke, had been developing a neighbour day called ‘Zocalo’. The idea was to get people to put a chair in their street and sit there as a way of saying, ‘I’m a friendly neighbour, come and have a chat. It was immensely popular. David (Bramwell) started helping, as well as writing about and promoting the idea in Brighton and across the UK via one-man shows, a TED talk and a podcast series.
David’s band, ‘Oddfellows Casino’, has played live on Radio 6 and has released six albums since 2002. For David to diversify has meant to become digitally savvy, broadcasting on Radio 3 and Radio 4. ‘The Haunted Moustache’, which is a humorous exploration of the occult, won him a Sony Radio Award in 2011 for ‘best feature’ and was later published as a book and is still performed as a one-man show. Current projects include ‘the Mysterium’, a book of modern mysteries and a fortnightly podcast, ‘the Odditorium.’
David wanted to pay tribute to his friend, Adrian Bunting who has died of cancer. He was a very important friend to David and said: “I promise, part of your story will be told.” Talking about diversifying, David said: “It makes me very happy and I think that is the most important thing.”
You can read, watch and listen to all David’s adventures and sign up for his newsletter on his website.
Thank you to Roz Scott for writing this blog.
Twitter: @RozScottBN3
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