COMEDY: MARK WATSON
Komedia Thurs 2nd
Almost 10 years into his stand-up career, and after a few 24-hour-long shows and literally millions of appearances on Mock The Week, Mark Watson is bringing his tangent-rich observational comedy to Brighton. And it’s not because he loves seagulls, or because he thinks our BHS has a good menswear section, but because the Welshman invited his fans to suggest destinations for his tour. As a result, he’s heading straight from his New Zealand tour to the dizzy heights of Chorley, Aldershot and beyond, as well as this seaside visit. Nice guy. He’s funny too. (DC)

FILM: UPSIDE DOWN
Duke Of York’s Fri 3rd
The Creation Records story will inevitably acquire dramatic embellishment over the years, and one suspects anything that adds to its rock’n’roll legend will suit boss Alan McGee just fine. His stewardship of the label over the years is easier to deify in the wake of his discovery of Oasis, but it could just as easily gone very badly wrong. Massive overspends (My Bloody Valentine) combined with a dogged determination to back unbankable acts (Momus)make it a somewhat rocky road, but one that at least some came out of smiling. (NC)

FILM: THE LOST BOYS
Duke Of York’s Thurs 9th
Fuck Twilight, The Lost Boys is the ultimate teen vampire movie. Kiefer Sutherland’s gang of blood-sucking bikers are about as gnarly as the undead get, like Billy Idol’s backing band gone feral. Meanwhile the two Coreys (Haim and Feldman) brilliantly showcase the comedic talent they would soon throw away with drug addictions. And the soundtrack – wow. It’s got a bare-chested, longhaired sax player parping next to a burning oil drum. As if training for his Jack Bauer role later in life Kiefer made the whole film with a broken hand, hiding it in leather gloves. Hardcore. (JK)

COMEDY: RICHARD HERRING
Caroline of Brunswick Weds 8th
A prolific month of comedy upstairs at everyone’s favourite gothic temple, where Edinburgh previews come thicker and faster than a rugger buggers’ night out down West Street. Radio 4 fixture Richard Herring pursues enlightenment by adding love to his previous rants on religion, politics and penises. Support act Catie Wilkins’ dad wouldn’t approve – he stuck two fingers up at love during the 1960s and became an accountant for Tesco. She’s basing a show around him, but she ain’t following in his footsteps. (BM)

THEATRE: BEAR TRAP
Nightingale Mon 13th
Bear Trap’s seaweed-strewn tale of a desperate trip to the high seas saw them marked out as a young company to watch at Edinburgh last year, and their penchant for a sparse set and plenty of physicality should chime well with the Nightingale setting. The tale of a shambolic crew making one last trip out onto the ocean in an attempt to stave off bankruptcy on the shores of Devon is grippingly, elegantly told – sea shanties and all. (BM)

THEATRE: ERIC’S TALES FROM THE SEA
Caroline of Brunswick Weds 15th
It’s not every month you find a show governed by the Official Secrets Act submerged within these humble pages, but Eric – he won’t tell us his surname, because he can’t for obvious legal reasons – is the thinking man’s thesp to see this month. He spent 17 years in the Royal Navy before becoming a stand-up comic, and his stories of submarines, sonar and solitude are told with a gentle wit which makes them rare and funny. Just watch out for the beards and sharks. (BM)

THEATRE: FIRST LOVE
Pavilion Theatre Thurs 16th – Fri 17th
Conor Lovett is an outstanding and renowned Beckett performer, widely applauded for his old-before-his-time expressionism, gurning and arching and clowning his way through. His Cork tones gliding effortlessly, his ability to compel his audience is almost peerless. Last autumn he performed The End at the Dome – this time he returns with the writer’s early short prose, a tragicomic disaster of black humour and startling grimness. Lovett seems to adapt and evolve with every Beckett piece he takes on, so this is a real treat. (BM)

ART: RYAN CALLANAN
Ink_d from Fri 17th
For those who knew RYCA for his large-scale sculpture of an acid house smile or kaleidoscopic prints of fluttering hearts (the no less hedonistically-themed Love is the Drug), he returns to Ink_d under his new, less abbreviated name. For The Symbols Won’t Save Us, the model and sign maker fuses traditional techniques with modern effigies and emblems, jogging the memory and yanking the familiar into unfamiliar territories. His subversively-toned knack for a visual hit promises a sugar rush of a solo show. (BM)

THEATRE: THE SERVANT
New Venture Theatre Sat 18th – Sat 25th
Class manipulation, psychological mind games, role reversal, immorality, sexual decadence… It could be this play or it could simply be your fate if you stumble blind into any house party in the New Venture vicinity after the Saturday night runs of this eagerly anticipated take on Robin Maugham’s most famous piece. With that listing written, you should also know this one’s about a toffee-nosed socialite returning to a townhouse in Chelsea picked by his mate, and their subsequent implosive dealings with a manservant. Ooh-err. (BM)

THEATRE: THE CONFETTI MAKER
Pavilion Theatre Fri 24th
Improvisational clown Frank Wurzinger is a master of the mundane, doing stupid things with paper which make his decision to portray the life of a confetti factory worker a perfect fit. Taking the idea of cutting-edge theatre to a literal conclusion, he perforates and shreds his way to a circumspection of the dreams of your everyday factory optimist. Wurzinger’s storytelling panache is engrossing enough to resound, but it’s his skill as a physical performer which makes him brilliant. (BM)

WORDS BY DANI COLYER, JAMES KENDALL, BEN MILLER
JUNE 2011