CABARET: Professor Elemental’s Great And Secret Show
Marlborough Theatre Thurs 3rd – Sat 5th, Fri 18th
If you haven’t seen ‘Fighting Trousers’, in which the steampunk hip hop mad professor known as Elemental minces around a ring half-naked in an air raid helmet (chorus: “I don’t like your tweed, sir”, to a horn backing) then you’ve missed unarguably the finest thing YouTube can offer. Perhaps the only way to console yourself is to pay a visit to Elemental Manor (temporarily relocated to the Marlborough), where monkey butlers and scorching wordplay lie in wait. And lashings of tea.
THEATRE: I Have Never Cared For Sunsets: A History
Regency Tavern Sat & Sun: 5th & 6th, 12th & 13th, 19th & 20th
Possibly the most abstract puppet-show ever envisaged, this play covers Isaac Newton as a youth, an evil Karl Popper, leeches, addictions, potatoes, bloodletting and vaguely misunderstood philosophical concepts. Nestling somewhere between theatre and shameless self-expression, the show fits in perfectly with the Fringe’s esoteric line-up. Enthusiastic, unique, and with incredibly vague advertising, it’s the first performance of local chap Tye McGivern, who has never acted before.
CABARET: The Revolution Will Be Sexual
Komedia Studio Tues 8th & Weds 9th
East End Cabaret’s dirty duo are truly smutty professionals and their show at Edinburgh last August was very well received. Proclaiming tales of unrequited love, unrequited self-love and earnest mischievous musical endeavours, Bernadette Byrne and Victor Victoria take the viewers – or should that be, voyeurs – on a sexy, unpredictable adventure into one of the country’s finest cabaret shows. Playing on the feelings of the crowd, their shows are always different.
Theatre: The Cock & Tail Inn: The 80s
Tudor Room, Old Ship Hotel Weds – Sat: 9th – 12th, 16th – 19th, 23rd – 26th
Driftwood Productions brought the first instalment of 70s themed slapstick drama The Cock & Tail Inn to the Fringe last year, picking up positive reviews and some sold out shows. This time around the action shifts forward a decade, as pub landlord Barry, his regulars and staff grapple with lusting after Princess Di and the encroachment of yuppiedom. An evening of familiar innuendo with emotional undercurrents, in the fine British traditions of sitcom and farce, is to be expected.
LITERATURE: Fashion Tips For The Last Days
Blind Tiger Weds 9th
Renowned locally as much for his mutton chops as his rhyming couplets, Chris Parkinson is one of Brighton’s true lovable young eccentrics. He’s been a regular fixture on the city’s poetry circuit for so long now that it’s a surprise to learn that he’s launching only his second book of verse tonight. Live music and short films will also feature in a typically eclectic variety show from the man whose ‘poetry brothel’ beat Gordon Brown for Best Literary Event at the 2007 Fringe.
COMEDY: Jessica Fostekew: Brave New World
Laughing Horse, Quadrant Sat 12th, Sat 19th, Sat 26th
A must-see for linguists, pedants, grammar nazis and nerds, this hilarious show is about the origins of everyday words. Jessica Fostekew’s unquestionable acting ability, natural comedic timing and sparkling ease make for a fascinating, interesting, and very funny show. It’s free, and you’ll probably learn something too. You have nothing to lose: except your dignity, when you’re cackling with laughter.
MUSIC: Fantasticus
Various venues, Mon 14th – Weds 16th, Fri 18th & Sat 19th, Tues 22nd
Conquering the world one city at a time, French psych band Fantasticus are confining their debut UK tour entirely to Brighton venues during the Fringe, which should save on the petrol money at least. The five-piece specialise in improvised grooves with strong hints of the steady, stoner sounds of Pink Floyd and the rhythmic propulsion of Can. They pack in six shows in eight days, at The Globe, The Hope (twice), Sticky Mike’s, the Green Door and the Blind Tiger.
MUSIC: Milestones Play To The Silent Screen / Cubana Bop Play West Side Story
Brunswick Mon 14th / Weds 23rd
Pianist Terry Seabrook originally assembled Milestones to pay tribute to Miles Davis’s bestselling 1959 album ‘Kind Of Blue’, but the group have moved beyond these confines to encompass all manner of Miles-related jazz. For the Fringe, the sextet will perform a new Seabrook score to an as yet undisclosed silent movie classic. The following week, Seabrook’s Cubana Bop present their Latin jazz take on another 20th century classic; Leonard Bernstein’s energetic musical West Side Story.
COMEDY: Best Of Late Night Gimp Fight
The Warren Sat 19th
If the name alone doesn’t make you smirk, the costumes, puns, late night sketches and risqué black humour definitely will. Late Night Gimp Fight sold out last year and for good reason – it’s hilarious. Like laughing inappropriately at a child falling over, this is the kind of comedy that makes you feel slightly guilty about enjoying it so much. Bit dirty, bit shameful, totally brilliant. Probably not one to take your mother to.
COMEDY: Jesus: The Guantanamo Years
The Warren Sat 19th
Six years since he debuted this green-spirited spin on The War Against Terror (he’s been seen at the Fringe since then, presenting follow-up Eco-Friendly Jihad), Irish writer-comedian and eco-evangelist Abie Bowman returns with the show in which Jesus’s bid to enter the US is foiled by security wary of his Middle Eastern looks. Sparked by the thought that Al Qaeda causes less damage to the world than an oil-hungry West, Bowman spins a good yarn in an often incendiary tale.
LITERATURE: Verse & Versus: Poetry Slam!
Hendricks’ Library of Delightfully Peculiar Writings, Mon 21st
Fancy yourself as a bit of a poet? A freestyling MC maybe? Either way, if you can make three minutes of the spoken word sound good and you’re up for making yourself part of the festival, you can enter this competition for free. There’s a £100 prize and some complementary gin, which sounds like a good deal to us. It’s £5 if you don’t have the bottle yet (to enter the competition, not the bottle of gin).
EVENTS: THE HANGING GARDENS OF BRIGHTON
Old Steine Gardens Fri 25th – Sun 27th
A three-day festival coinciding with the end of the Fringe, this Babylon-inspired weekender is themed as “a playful parody of the rise and fall of civilisation”. Two marquees play host to a strong line up of live acts, including The Go! Team, Dub Pistols, One Giant Leap’s Jamie Catto and Alabama 3, plus a healthy selection of cabaret performers and DJs. As you’d expect from the Old Steine site, capacity is limited, so advance tickets are probably a necessity.
EVENTS: Live Roller Derby
Secret Venue Sat 26th
On possibly the first occasion a sporting event has made the Fringe programme, Brighton Rockers are pitted against Leicester’s Dolly Rockit Rollers. This frantic all-female contact sport features a star-helmeted skater scoring points by overtaking opponents. The ‘secret venue’ tag suggests some intriguing possibilities. Skating around the Royal Pavilion’s Banqueting Room, perhaps? Or a banked track event in the city’s Victorian sewers? The reality is likely to be far more prosaic, although the bout itself will be anything but.
Words by Stuart Huggett, Jessica Marshall McHattie, Ben Miller and Adam Peters
