This is a two-women stand-up comedy show – about life, lessons and laughter – that has been devised for Brighton Fringe by Silvana and Sydney. It’s just about to hit you. But who are our two performers?
They first met at a ‘Toastmasters’ event a few years back. Both had plenty of form and experience in life coaching, public speaking and comedy events. They also brought together their own extensive back catalogue drawing on skills learnt from coaching.
Sydney and Silvana have lived very different lives, and yet they confess that they couldn’t help turning any ‘serious’ workshop into a comedy show! They both gelled into a natural rapport of teasing and not taking things too seriously.
They have now been treading the boards, telling tales and pulling out jokes for a while. In 2023 they teamed up together: with Sydney deeply engaged in a comedy course and Silvana winning an award. They are both well trained stage performers and enjoy the scene at the Caxton Arms – a five-minute walk from Brighton Station – one of the city’s top venues for open mic spoken word.
Sydney grew up in a village in Kent, but she spent around 14 years in music colleges and studied at BIMM music school in Brighton for a foundation degree. She still fitted in some time to play with local rock band, Torrid (A Love Affair). The sea and diversity of people here – gay and lesbian – has always been a plus for her.
Meanwhile, Silvana came to Brighton over 20 years ago to rescue herself. Her husband at the time helped her get away from Belgrade. She still remembers when Serbia and Yugoslavia were facing bombs from the sky. There was nothing funny in that.
But Silvana had heard good stories about Brighton and its variety and diversity. “I fell in love with the city,” she says. “I didn’t ever regret coming here.”
For this show of Life Lessons And Laughs we are promised “expert coaches who will have you in stitches” with “insights to boost your happiness”. With “life lessons meeting laughs” what more could we want?
Caxton Arms, Sun 5th May (5.30pm), Sun 12th May (8.00pm), Fri 31st (6.45pm)
Tickets available here
Photo by Eddie Jeffs
