Did You Know There Were Two Banksys in Brighton?

Everyone knows about Kissing Coppers, the stencil of two policemen embracing on the side of the Prince Albert pub. It’s probably Brighton’s most famous brush with Banksy.

But did you know there was another?

Back in 2002, Ocean Rooms nightclub on Morley Street commissioned Banksy to create a mural for its downstairs bar. What they got was Laugh Now — a six-metre-long spray-painted piece featuring ten forlorn monkeys, each wearing sandwich boards. Six of them bore the same phrase:
“Laugh now, but one day we’ll be in charge.”

A Nightclub Commission with a Bite

For years, this army of monkeys loomed behind the bar while Brighton clubbers danced the night away. Banksy often used animals as stand-ins for humanity: rats, monkeys, and apes who tell truths about us that we’d rather avoid.

Laugh Now has been read as a critique of our exploitation of animals — poaching, captivity, entertainment, testing — but also as a broader metaphor for the oppressed rising up.

From Wall to Auction Block

In 2008, as Banksy’s fame surged, Ocean Rooms decided to sell. The mural was removed and consigned to Bonhams’ Urban Art sale in London, where it was valued at £200,000. What had once been a nightclub backdrop was now a serious collectible, standing alongside other iconic Banksy works such as Bomb Love and Space Girl and Bird.

The sale highlighted just how far street art had come — from ephemeral stencils on city walls to high-value assets in international auction houses. The monkeys were right all along: one day, they would be in charge.

Brighton’s Banksy Legacy

Brighton might not be Bristol or Shoreditch, but it has a unique claim to Banksy history. Kissing Coppers became a tourist attraction (and was eventually sold to a U.S. collector), while Laugh Now quietly made the leap from a Morley Street nightclub to the global art market.

Two Banksys. Two very different stories. But both remind us that even in Brighton’s backstreets and basement clubs, history was being spray-painted before our eyes.