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Tuesday 13 October to Monday 19 October

John Bishop

John Bishop is busy mysteriously filming abroad. We tracked him down and gave him a grilling about work, family and Elvis.

L7: Where are you and what are you working on? 
JB: I am currently in Jordan making a film which will be out next year but which I can’t say too much about. Apart from that I am just making sure I have enough jokes for the tour!

L7: Would you describe your show for our readers? 
JB: It’s a bloke having a chat but leaving out all the stuff that’s not funny – I am sure I could sell it better than that, but I think that is probably the most accurate description.

L7: Do you feel you have an affinity with Elvis – does this manifest in a love of burgers, ‘ah-huhs’, or jumpsuits at all?
JB: I talk about this a lot in the show and the truth is, Elvis is the only person who looked good being fat in a jumpsuit, I know, I have tried, and the mirror never lies – he looked like a King, I look like the world’s worst strippergram!

L7: Your family has a big presence in your comedy. How do they feel about it? 
JB: It is the only valid reason to have children – for the material!

L7: Do you dance like Elvis or do you ‘dad-dance’? 
JB: I dance like Elvis’ Dad.

L7: Who makes you laugh?
JB: My mates, my dad, my kids and my dog Bilko who thinks he is a 32-year-old man who is a company executive and owns our house.

L7: Do you enjoy playing to a Brighton audience?
JB: I have always had a great time in Brighton. Stephen Grant runs a great club at the Komedia which is great all year round but the comedy festival is well supported so I am looking forward to it.

John Bishop – Elvis Has Left the Building, is on Saturday 17 October, Pavilion Theatre, £12/10 as a part of the Magners Brighton Comedy Festival.

Hans Teeuwen, the Nick Cave of comedy, took us on a whirlwind tour of his absurdist, surreal and often pretty offensive, mind. It is like nothing else on the circuit and, once I had adjusted my head from stand-up mode to dark European Cabaret, I sat back and enjoyed the ride. Teeuwen certainly divides his audience, in a Marmite kind of way. Clearly a gifted actor and exquisite clown, Teeuwen’s unique physicality alone was enchanting, not to mention his musical talents. I feel I need to see him again, and soon.Not one to take Grandma to, but a joyful and exhilerating experience. Just leave your preconceptions at home for this one.
Pavillion Theatre, 9 October
4/5
Angela Barnes

There’ll be many who resent the new film version of Oscar Wilde’s gothic morality tale: its skirting over of the whole art versus life debate, its invention of characters, its stretching of timescale into a suffragette-filled 20th century. And they would have appreciated this old-fashioned stickler of a one-man show, in which Brighton actor (and sometime Corrie man) Keith Drinkel delivered a trimmed but unembellished reading from a leather armchair – no CGI portrait springing to life here. Unfortunately the story, too, failed to spring to life as the format leant itself better to the philosophy than the action. Philanderer, blackmailer, murderer – Dorian Gray may be many things, but he’s certainly not an armchair sinner.
Nightingale Theatre, 12 September
2/5
Bella Todd

State Of Emergency explore modern masculinity with three urban-inspired dance pieces

Showcasing work by a trio of leading black choreographers and coming to both Brighton and Crawley this autumn, State Of Emergency’s Mission Possible: Dads And Lads Move! is a three-part street dance programme exploring that most mysterious of places – the male psyche.
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