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It’s been a while since weirdo character stand-up Brian Gittins last performed in Brighton. “It’s been a bad year,” Pyecombe roadside café-owner Brian muttered, referencing some time out due to ‘mental and physical exhaustion’, which may or may not have been part of his deliberately shambolic act. With some hit and miss support including the decent class-conscious observations of Rue Barratt and witty one-liners of Paul Jones, despite the time away, he still successfully achieved his regular goal of pushing audience participation to its awkward, sometimes hilarious limits. Though the somewhat unreceptive Portslade crowd dampened the mood, this only fueled the anti-comic fun of the either-get-it-or-you-don’t Gittins festive car-crash.

The Whistlestop Inn, 14 December 2011
Rating:
Nick Aldwinckle

After releasing his third studio album, Playing In The Shadows, hip hop and dubstep legend Example smashed the Brighton Centre during his UK tour. The charged performance fired club anthems with an Ibiza ambience, as well as number one tracks ‘Changed The Way You Kiss Me’, ‘Kickstarts’ and ‘Won’t Go Quietly’.

The floor surged with powerful energy as crowds bounced to the music and formed large mosh pit circles. Example joined forces with British electropop band Fenech-Soler to initially rock the venue. Although the entire show lasted under two hours, the strobe lighting and booming sound made tickets priceless.

Brighton Centre, 14 December 2011
Rating:
David Tabor

Barb Jungr, Mari Wilson and Gwyn Herbert were full of laughs and enthusiasm as they took to the stage with their cabaret-styled performance of classic pop songs. The women covered all things girly, from a section of songs on infidelity, including Dolly Parton’s ‘Jolene’ to the slight mocking of domesticity with Doris Day’s ‘A Woman’s Touch.’ The three brought a warmth to the show with their own individual sound, that when harmonised together sounded beautiful, full of jazz, blues and soul. In their solo spots Gwyn sang ‘The Other Woman’, Mari delivered ‘Touch Me in the Morning’ and Barb really belted ‘Woman in Love.’ Even though the show makes for a brilliant girls night out, the men were the ones left cheering for more.

Komedia, 13 December 2011
Rating:
Laura Burgess

The Pavilion Theatre was buzzing with excitement as Craig Melvin hosted the Big Book Group with such charm and elegance and gave us an insightful, yet entertaining evening as he took us on a journey through the world of books, book groups and how to be a book critic. As well as this, star guests Carol Birch and Araminta Hall invited us into their worlds as they wrote and promoted their books. What made the evening particularly special was the interactive element including questions and answers and a big quiz. This event was definitely worth seeing and gave books, writing and reading a completely fresh approach.

Pavilion Theatre, Brighton Dome, 13 December 2011
Rating:
Sascha Cooper