SHOW AND TELL
Upstairs At Three And Ten various dates
A Fringe smorgasbord up in the Three And Ten loft. Tim Clare escapes knife-wielding hecklers and honours female icons via rap battles (Sunday 15th and 29th), Nathan Penlington deconstructs Uri Geller through metal bending and oil dowsing (Friday 27th and Saturday 28th) and John Osborne recounts the box of John Peel records he won which took eight years to listen to (Saturday 28th and Sunday 29th). Stand-ups Simon Munnery (Wed 25th) and Edward Aczel (Saturday 28th) also have new shows. (BM)
GHOST WALK OF THE LANES •
Starts The Druid’s Head Weds 4th-Sat 28th
Take a theatrical journey at this year’s Brighton Fringe with a mystical journey throughout our everyday surroundings. Something a bit different from your standard music, theatre or film event; involve yourself in a live tour of seven different haunted sites throughout Brighton’s historic lanes and hear the chilling stories behind them. Suitable for all ages and running for just over an hour it is an event guaranteed to enthral you and hopefully give you a different experience of Brighton Fringe than you were expecting. (HM)
ANNABEL GILES TALKS TOO MUCH •
Three And Ten Sun 1st, Sun 15th, Sun 22nd, Sun 29th
Former face of Max Factor, former Mrs Midge Ure, and former TV regular (hooray for 80s kids’ favourites Razzamatazz and Going Live!), these days Annabel Giles lives here in Brighton, turning her hand to the odd bit of writing and, fortunately for us, occasional stints as a stand-up comedian. We caught her doing a low-key slot at The Poets’ Corner last year, winning the pub over with her self-deprecating glamour and filthy asides. Absolutely fabulous, go see. (SH)
PETER CASE
Green Door Store Tues 17th
Singer-songwriter Peter Case began his musical career in San Francisco power pop trio The Nerves, who released just one 7″ EP before splitting: its lead track ‘Hanging On The Telephone’ would have ensured their immortality, even without Blondie’s cover. Case continued mining guitar gold with The Plimsouls, turning up in early Nic Cage teen-flick Valley Girl, before striking out solo. The Grammy nominated, Springsteen-recommended Case brings his adult-oriented songs to the Fringe alongside Brighton’s Luke Hyttner. (SH)
COCK & TAIL INN •
Ship Hotel Wed 18th-Sat 21st, Weds 25th-Sat 28th
Perhaps best known for their films, Driftwood are going all out to win awards with this 70s-style comedy based in the titular pub. Only Fools & Horses and Father Ted are touch points, but given a dash of sauce as eight boozers fight it out to score the inheritance of the former landlord. His long lost daughter announces that only one of them will grab the money. Expect chaos and plenty of laughs. (JK)
ZOMBIE SCIENCE 1Z
Caroline Of Brunswick, Mon 23rd – Weds 25th
The inventions of science fiction have a strange tendency to prompt the real thing, probably because most scientists begin life as eager geeks. Hence jetpacks and robots. This is worrying given pop culture’s current mania for the undead. In the meantime, zombie enthusiasts can start preparing for the big day with this spoof lecture from Theoretical Zombiologist, Doctor Austin. As well as learning the ‘real science’ of zombieism students are taught a module on treating the condition. They say prevention is better than a cure, but not when the cure involves baseball bats and chainsaws. (BB)
HITLER ALONE
The Old Courtroom, Thurs 26th – Sun 29th
A 70-minute monologue from a suicidal dictator might not sound much like entertainment, but there’s no denying the Führer still holds a strange and enduring fascination – both as a figure of fun and an avatar of pure evil. The real Adolf surely lies somewhere between the two and it’s this contrast that drives Paul Webster’s obsessively researched portrayal: one minute he’s raging with war lust, the next he’s lost in some sort of sentimental homoerotic fantasy. Suggesting that Hitler was human may rile some people, but it’s certainly a fact worth remembering. (BB)
NICE WEATHER FOR AIRSTRIKES •
The Druids Arms, Fri 27th – Mon 30th
NWFA’s four-day post rock extravaganza is back with a cherry-picked line-up of local and national artists: Shapes from Big Scary Monsters’ record label, Alright The Captain, and if you didn’t catch them at their ace Freebutt show, The Strange Death Of Liberal England are all on this year’s bill. Introspective local lads Nordic Giants, Monsters Build Mean Robots and Crowns On The Rats Orchestra will also be cramming onto the makeshift stage. (LS)
SUPPER CLUB •
The Basement Thurs 28th
One of Brighton’s coolest, best kept secrets is The Basement’s monthly Supper Club, which showcases an eccentric array of short performances, from flash fiction to one-man plays, live installation art and comedy, impromptu song and dance and bawdy experimentation. This special event is a selection of their finest pieces from the past year, so a perfect introduction to the night if you’re new to Supper Club, and a perfect summary if you’re not. (JMM)
WORDS BY BEN BAILEY, STUART HUGGETT, JAMES KENDALL, JESSICA MARSHALL MCHATTIE, BEN MILLER, HELEN MURDOCH