Brighton
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Wake me up before you play a gig in a Grade II listed gothic ex-church
It’s been a breakneck few days since my dad’s funeral, which went about as well as these events can. The turnout was huge, and the wake was full of stories and cheer. Lots of people from Dad’s overlapping lives (work, family, being a geezer) came up to me to say how much they enjoyed the Read more
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Brighton Folk Choir End Of Term Show
Summer is Icumen In, and with it, my folk choir breaks up for the holidays. To celebrate, we had an end-of-term show, with any choir member invited up to sing a song, recite a poem, or dance a belly. I wish we’d do this more often. I love folk choir, and Jo is an amazing Read more
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AndAlso Level Four Improv Showcase, The Lantern Theatre, Brighton
Over the last few months I’ve been doing an improv course with AndAlso (artists formerly known as The Maydays), learning “The Harold”. The Harold format is named after the 1960s Labour Prime Minster Harold Wilson, due to the way scenes and games emerge in the “white heat” of a three beat structure. A lot of Read more
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The Orient Express, terminating at Luton Airport
It is late night in Brighton, and from my flat window I can hear one of the last trains crossing the ten million bricks of London Road viaduct. Arriving back from Istanbul was a strange, jarring thing. I had only been in the city for five nights, but as always, had adapted quickly. Street cats, Read more
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Promoting shows in our collapsing digital realm
I’ve got a show in Brighton next week! It’s being headlined by Jason out of Clearlake, who I interviewed here. I’ve booked some clowns and written some songs about the end of the world, it’s going to be good. Telling people about a thing is tricky nowadays, as far as the internet is concerned. Offline, Read more
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All the shows I saw at Brighton Fringe 2024
Over on my newsletter I’ve posted links to all the Fringe, Spiegeltent, and Festival shows I went to this year. I’ve probably forgotten a couple, but this is how posterity shall remember it. I had a lovely time, and enjoyed excellent company throughout. Next year, I think I’ll take a few more risks and see Read more
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AndAlso Easter Showcase (aka James’ Armando debut)
Improv! I have been doing a 12 week “level 3” improv course with AndAlso, the corporate offshoot of The Maydays and premiere Brighton-based improv nexus, and Wednesday was our debut performance. I’ve only done improv live on stage once before: as a made-up film director at a live recording of the Improvised Movie Director Podcast. Read more
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Extra Topping with Rosalie Minnitt, Al Nash, The Magic Lady, and a Viking of some description
To the Extra Topping Comedy Showcase, then, which has MOVED from a rugby-obsessed pub in residential Hove to upstairs at the Yellow Book in Brighton’s fashionable York Place. Dog tarot cards on the table: I really liked the old venue. It was a comfy upstairs room, and an audience of locals being confused by some Read more
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Maybe the true conspiracy was the friends we didn’t make along the way
I had a conversation with a conspiracy theorist last week. He sat down at my table in the cafe where I was working, with a young friend, and proceeded to tell her lots of stuff that was complete nonsense. 5G, Covid vaccinations, world government… the usual stuff, rejigged and rejiggled to fit his own particular Read more
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Brighton Marina
If you’re in the mood for some discombobulation, I can recommend Brighton Marina on a drizzly February morning. Built on land reclaimed from the sea, the marina was a 1970s project, turned into a Thatcher’s island kind of retail park in the mid 1980s. It is dominated by a giant Asda and car park, and Read more
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