We interviewed BOOM! Tuesday’s organiser Jason Fox and got all the tea

The unofficial King of Coventry (on Tuesdays) is Jason Fox. You can spot him on stage in JJ's every Boom Tuesday, dancing to High School Musical with an inflatable snake around his neck and wearing a sombrero. But haven't you always wondered what goes on behind the scenes of a Boom Tuesday? What about that time it set on fire?

You've probably spotted Jason outside the SU handing out wristbands with his BOOM! rep children. He's a pillar of the student community and the daddy of JJ's. The Coventry Tab spoke to Jason about exactly what goes down every Tuesday while you're downing jager bombs and dancing to the That's Not Me remix.

So, describe your average Tuesday?

I'm up at 6am and drive into Coventry for 11am to make sure all the reps have enough supplies for everyone who wants our discount wristbands. I'm there until 3pm and then I run some errands like getting all the bread for the toast and my choice of free sweets. I won't lie, some of the sweets don't actually make it to JJ's.

I head to JJ's nice and early to help set everything up, doors open at 10pm so I try to get everyone in as quickly as possible. I switch my attention to the stage to make sure everything for the theme is being done.

Then, at the end of the night, while my team are doing the toast, I'm usually helping those who are a little worse for wear! By the time I'm home it's 6am and I jump into the warm side of the bed.

Smokey vibes

Do you ever wish you had more than one room at JJ's?

In a way yes, but in a bigger way no. We keep all the atmosphere in one place, we keep the music moving and change it about as often as we can, and you don’t get lost for as long! I think JJ’s would be weird if it had other rooms.

What would you say is the most successful BOOM! Tuesday night of the year?

By default, Fresher's Week. It’s insane. There’s an extra level of buzz in the air because it’s the start of the year. Then the Christmas and Halloween events.

In terms of our themes though, our "Crazy Finger Laser Rave" always goes down really well. As did our first McDonald’s chicken nugget party and Krispy Kreme party. Oh and when we do a giveaway night – one girl went home with a free iPad last year. Madness.

How do you come up with new theme ideas?

I’m always thinking of ways to surprise people, get them excited and get them talking. I want every Tuesday to be as different as possible. It’s a big reason why people keep coming back – they know we’re always going to have something pretty big happening!

I’m always talking to my reps and student friends to see what they want to see as well. That’s how we ended up with Tracy Beaker at JJ’s last year.

Tag yourself, I'm the banana

What is the process in trying to secure celebrity guests like Tracy Beaker, Adam Collard, etc?

Every celebrity or act has a booking agent. They’re quite easy to find online, but often they’ll be emailing me to make suggestions for who I could book. They can check the diary, advise on what costs are involved and put an offer to the artist if I want to make one.

It can take time to get the information you want, work out how much you should be paying for each act and whether it’s the right thing to go for at the right time. It can get tedious, but if you get it right the end result is worth it!

What are some of the wild things you have seen on a BOOM! Tuesday?

It depends what you mean by wild – and I can’t talk about some of it! I’ll keep it clean: People go absolutely crazy for some of our giveaways and games, there’s been some questionable fancy dress choices over the years and my resident DJ once crowd surfed, which neither of us were expecting.

Do you have any new themes lined up for the year?

Yeah there’ll be a good few new ones and some twists on some BOOM! classics. Our second week is a new concept that I’ve not done before. I’ve called it The Glow Show Takeover.

I basically spent a small fortune on all things LED… like the usual glasses and wristbands, but also some crazy stuff like palm trees, flamingos, tambourines, hula hoops, stress balls, all sorts! I’ve got a lot in stock for it.

We all wanted some nugs

We always see BOOM! reps giving the discount wristbands out, how does it work for them?

I created the rep role with the wristbands because it’s super flexible and easy for everyone. The reps give wristbands out whenever, however and to whoever they want. One rep earned £132 on one Tuesday last year.

What I like to see is the friendships and even relationships that have started between students who meet as reps. I’m just waiting for one of the rep couples to have a BOOM! wedding.

And finally, what are the most popular drinks?

Typically vodka-based drinks always make up the majority of sales at any student event. Cov students really like their Jagerbombs too, but our cocktails are such good value on a Tuesday that people really make the most of those.