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Steve Coogan is a very busy man, what with the return of Alan Partridge, his charity work with Amaze, and new film projects. Victoria Nangle grabs a chat with the star

Steve Coogan is a movie star, a writer, a comedian, a producer and the reason a generation giggle themselves silly at two seemingly meaningless syllables: “Ah-ha!” He may be a son of Manchester but he’s got strong ties to Brighton, not least to local charity Amaze, which works with parents of children with special needs and is the cause for next week’s special screening of The Trip, which includes Q&As with its stars Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon. As he says politely when we thank him for the interview: “Well thank you, Amaze is something that I very much support.” Steve Coogan may be working on new eagerly-awaited Alan Partridge material, having just finished filming with True Blood hottie Alexander Skarsgård and four-time Oscar nominee Julianne Moore, but he’s got time for his second home town. “I do like Brighton. I’ve lived there for 12 years and I’ve adopted it you know.” And we’re very grateful for it. Victoria Nangle talks to the man behind Alan Partridge and so much more.

Are you looking forward to the screening of The Trip for Amaze?
“Yes, I am I suppose. I mean, when you’re in my line of work, once you’ve finished a film you see it a couple of times, sometimes it’s nice to revisit it and you read a few reviews and you might have a few screenings but then you don’t really get much of an audience response…unless you’re in one of these events.” Read the rest of this article »

Scotland’s wonder-comedy-kid Daniel Sloss returns to Brighton with his third show at the grand old age of 21

Did people make a big deal when you turned 21?
I don’t think so, I was just drunk for a few days which was fun [laughs]. No, I think people are saying: ‘Why is he still doing jokes about being young?’ And well, first of all I’m actually not if you pay attention to the material and second of all 21 is still quite young in this world!
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Winner of ITV’s Show Me the Funny, hug-o-holic and best friend to everyone, Patrick Monahan is in Brighton. He chats with Victoria Nangle

What – besides the tour and DVD – do you feel you got out of the Show Me The Funny programme?
It was an amazing experience even though at times it was a bit hairy and scary – and I had a few sleepless nights and very early starts – like an army base at 6am wake up call after finally dropping off to sleep at 5am!
The most vital thing about the show was getting feedback from the judges and guest judges – the feedback was critical and honest – which is good to have especially doing a job like stand up, where you only ever get two responses, and that involves people laughing if they like your jokes and routines, and not laughing if they don’t! 
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The maestro of music and mayhem returns to wrap sounds, genres, concepts and punchlines

Whether you first stumbled upon Bill Bailey as quiz captain in Never Mind The Buzzcocks or discovered his well-meaning character of Manny charming in Black Books, the true delight of Mr Bailey has always been live on stage combining his musical virtuosity with a mind that embraces the ponder fully.
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