Comedy Festival
Only When I laugh…
Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain
If you haven’t laughed in the last month you’ve only got yourself to blame says television comedy producer and purveyor of humorous ditties Matt Tiller.
Stringing me along…
I love the Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain. The first time I saw them was on a date. We never met up again – me and my date – but it was my fault; not that of the orchestra. They’re warm and amusing, playing unexpected songs and fantastically concocted medleys. (Sunday 19 October, Corn Exchange 7.30pm).
Stand-up and be counted…
Fuck you. Edgy! Reginald D Hunter’s like that. (Thursday 16 October, Corn Exchange 7.30pm). Jon Richardson, on the other hand, is angry at the little things that get on your tits. (Saturday 18 October, Pavilion Theatre 7.30pm). David O’Doherty plays whimsical ditties, as do I. Except he has a Casio keyboard and won the if.comedy award. (Sat 18 October, Pavilion Theatre 9.15pm). Rhod Gilbert’s show is just fucking amazing. A flawless hour of stand-up, this is an incredible piece of work. Gilbert is known for surreal stories about growing up in a fictional town in Wales – Llanbobble – but, stung by criticism that he wasn’t tackling the real world, he enters it and promptly has a nervous breakdown. This is the brilliant result of his attempt to face reality. (Monday 29 October, Pavilion Theatre 9.15pm).
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www.brightoncomedyfringe.co.uk•
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Fringe benefits…
As well as the main festival, the fringe events on at Upstairs at Three and Ten (Steine Street BN2 1TE) are worth a look, featuring some excellent acts. Go to one of Terry Saunders’ storytelling nights, Sitting on a Rug (Wednesday 29 October) and Shitting Yourself on a Rug (Friday 31 October). I know – I was shocked too. He’s such a nice fellow and then he comes out with a title like that. It’s a Halloween special so it makes sense. There will be ghost stories and carved vegetables.
Sketchy details…
Other fringe shows on at Upstairs at Three and Ten include last year’s if.comedy award nominees Pappy’s Fun Club (Friday 17 October, 8pm) with their energetic and daft sketch show and Alexis Dubus: A R#ddy Brief History of Swearing (Wednesday 22 October, 8pm), which won many plaudits at Edinburgh. Finally there’s Lady Garden (Saturday 1 November, 8pm) which on the surface should be a disaster; six fairly recently graduated female performing-arts type students doing sketches. But it is a virtually unmitigated success. The standard of performance and writing is very high and there are very few misses from a sketch group in its first year.
