Comedy: Brighton Fringe

Hit the ground running with your pick of this year’s Brighton Fringe comedy shows

My giddy aunt, there are a lot of comedy shows in the Brighton Fringe! There are so many it can feel like a tsunami of A4 pages with neat postage stamp-sized images to confuse and hopefully amuse you as they call enticingly from the Fringe brochure. Not all will be pure gold, but it’s certainly worth taking a punt outside your comfort zone amongst the plethora of free shows on offer.

Last year I caught Luisa Omielan’s show What Would Beyoncé Do?, previewing for free at the Caroline Of Brunswick. It was free then, but since collecting a number of accolades it’s come back sharper than ever (I was impressed with the rough version!) with a cover price at Komedia, while Luisa’s new show, Am I Right, Ladies?, is previewing for free at The Quadrant, repeating the format that worked so well for her in 2012. She’s even teaming up with ITV’s Show Me The Funny winner Patrick Monaghan for an afternoon show called Yori Yori Love Chat Luisa Pat, for another free show at The Quadrant.

Other highlights include the bizarre S***-Faced Shakespeare at The Warren, a venue that’s listing of a show alone can usually be a fine recommendation. Other favourites returning to this pop-up Fringe venue include the award-winning sketch groups Late Night Gimp Fight, Clever Peter and Foil, Arms & Hog. New venues are always worth exploring, not least Emporium on London Road, which opens its doors for the first time with this May’s Fringe, it’s programming including Stand-Up: The Musical, which sports the impressive line-up of Helen Arney, Horse & Louis, Carly Smallman, Rachel Parris, David Jordan and more – headed up by recent winners of Best Musical Comedy Act 2012 Hill & Wheedon.

Of course there’s also the various wonderful temptations that fall under somebody else’s headings in the guide, such as Doug Segal’s new mind-reading show (The Warren), Sex Guru: The Sexological Comedy Show (The Old Market) and Hijack Comedy (Komedia) – providing stand-up comedy in the afternoon of the highest calibre and aimed squarely at the kids, with the older usual crowd welcome too. And there’s the pure musical comedy acts, like Jonny & The Baptists, Eastend Cabaret, The Lovely Brothers and much more. So pull out your highlighter pen and a brochure now. It doesn’t have to break the bank, and it’s not every month we have one of the world’s biggest Fringe’s on our doorstep. Time to take advantage.

Brighton Fringe, Saturday 4 May – Sunday 2 June, various locations and venues, brightonfringe.org, 01273 917272