The latest Brighton Festival and Fringe reviews from Team ThreeWeeks. Look out for more ThreeWeeks reviews here in the eDaily and every morning in The Argus each day in May. Hurrah.

A Guide To ThreeWeeks Ratings:
1/5 - somewhere around about God-darn awful, though possibly it's so bad it's good.
2/5 - just not any good really, sorry.
3/5 - good for what it is - if you like this genre, probably worth a try
4/5 - now, this is what we are talking about, a fine example of this genre
5/5 - oh Lord, so damn good, whatever the genre, go see this show if you can

COMEDY

Stephen K Amos
Glorious Talent
With bags of energy Stephen K Amos delivered his standup set to an encouraging audience, and I, new to his charms, was quickly drawn in and it was not long before I too was laughing at his astute observations.  Most entertaining was his impressive array of convincing accents, which enabled him to bring characters to life and keep the material diverse. He displayed a very light touch as he relayed anecdotes that touched on racism, showing the absurdity of how people sometimes think and speak.  As he said himself as an aside, 'find the funnies' and that's what he did for us. Amos already has a list of TV credits to his name and with increased exposure he will keep increasing his fan base. With any luck he'll be back in town soon.    
Udderbelly, 8 May, 9:00pm, £14.00 (£12.00), fringe pp21.
tw rating 4/5
[sla]

The Nightmare Factory
The Joogleberry has some super sketch comedy on this May; it also has 'The Nightmare Factory', which actually is nightmarish in its failure to generate anything close to comedy. Beginning with a ghost story session with Byron and the Shelleys, the piece is devoid of any Byronic wit and relies instead on a sound effects CD to attempt to provide the humour. To say that the sketches laboured on long after they ceased to entertain would be inaccurate, as few of them could even be classed as entertainment. I had to repress the urge, in the repetitive advert breaks involving the phrase "Just be...", to heckle "Just be funny". This isn't so much a sketchy attempt at sketch comedy as a brutal rape and murder of the genre that will give audiences nightmares.
Joogleberry Playhouse, 10-11, 17-18 May, 3:45pm (4:35pm), £6.00 (£5.00), fringe pp 21.
tw rating 2/5
[se]

GSOH at Upstairs at Three and Ten – Sally Ann Hayward
Good Sense of Humour/Otherplace Productions
Sally Ann Hayward seems the kind of girl you'd want to go to the pub with. With personal and embarrassing confessions of relationships gone wrong, mixed with quick witted and slightly rude banter with crowd members, Sally made likeable viewing. When testing the water for her Edinburgh show, however, the comic fairytale Sally had written herself became far too complex and detailed to hold the attentions of a tipsy Friday night crowd. At some points it was a bit confusing. Nevertheless, overall Hayward presents an endearing and enjoyable act which clearly has potential.
Upstairs at Three and Ten, 5 - 23 May (not 7, 10, 11, 12, 13, 17, 18, 20), 10:00pm, £7.00 (£5.00), fringe pp17
tw rating 3/5
[ap]

The Birthday Club/Comic Angels Present
Fun at The Fringe
A rollercoaster ride of different stand-ups, rather creaky to begin with, incorporating some lulling lows, but reaching an invigorating climax at the end. The ride began with some flashy conjuring from magician Christian Lee, impressive, if a little slow jokes-wise. It then slowed down further and started to creak with comics Bray, Kershi and Bolt's rather clichéd unimaginative routines. The coasting car got back on track with the reappearance of Lee and some funnier, slicker magic, and then speeded up to lightening speed with the intense energy of Imran Yusuf with the delivery of a machine gun. Danish Mette Lisby delightfully delivered the coaster to its climax on the subject of female masturbation.
Joogleberry Playhouse, 17-18, 24-25 May, 1:00pm (3:00pm), £7.00 (£3.50 to anyone born in May), fringe pp21.
tw rating 3/5
[se]

Mac's Lyrical
Northern monkey Mac McFadden is a poetic creature at heart, with a good ear for a witty rhyme. The bald poet narrates a short history of his life, starting with slides of him at 14 with a full head of hair and a bittersweet poem bemoaning the lack of hair elsewhere, as a latecomer to puberty. The poetry can be quite lengthy, but it gushes out in a strong physical performance with wicked rhymes that keep the audience entertained. The northern card was perhaps a little overplayed, though the many different northern accents of one piece was great fun to witness. A deeper poem about being older enough to be his dad gives a poignant finish to Mac's jolly romp through his life.
Heist, 3-5, 10-11, 17-18, 24-26 May, 3:00pm (4:00pm), free, fringe pp18.
tw rating 3/5
[se]

MUSIC

The Jamestown Union and Samantha Horwill
The Jamestown Union are country, and I love country. Add to that, these guys are great live. Lead singer Matt Hopwood is the epitome of what lead singers should be - self-assured, totally immersed in the music, super cute and barefoot, love it. The music was an energetic upbeat guitar-led set of popular/country influenced music, which would appeal to more than just die-hard rednecks (like myself). Joining the band was special guest female vocalist Samantha Horwill who sang such beautiful harmonies that I thought she was an integral part of the band. The venue, The Brunswick, is a really nice size, small enough to feel intimate, and that complemented the band, and heightened their allure.
The Brunswick, 9 May, 9:00 pm – 11:00 pm, £5.00 (£4.00), fringe pp37.
tw rating 4/5
[sla]

THEATRE

Call Mr Robeson
Joogleberry Playhouse, 12-16 May, times vary, prices vary
Biopic or tribute concert? Political rally or short history of the civil rights movement? This show, paying homage to singer, actor and political activist Paul Robeson, defies definition. The story of Robeson's rise to fame on stage, screen and soapbox, and his fall from favour as his socialist ideals lead him to be branded unpatriotic, is powerfully brought to life by Tayo Aluko. Songs from shows and songs of struggle beautifully complement the narrative and the intense speeches. Robeson is perhaps best known for 'Ol' Man River', and Aluko, who is foremost a singer, does not disappoint. The acting, though, is just as faultless, skillfully sliding from early tenacity to the later paranoia and attempted suicide. A moving tribute to a remarkable man.
tw rating 5/5
[se]

The Haunted Moustache
Otherplace Productions
Had I entered a lecture? A monologue? A comedy? Not sure, and frankly, I was still not sure by the time it had finished. David Bramwell told us a series of stories linked by his quest to reveal the mysteries behind the moustache he had inherited. His tales only begin in 1991, but they felt like they belonged to another time altogether, as he touched on Buddhist beliefs about living in the moment, whilst firmly taking up residence in the past. He definitely has some amazing and bizarre stories to tell but I wasn't convinced that he was doing them or himself justice. I was left thinking that this performance would suit those seeking a night doused in nostalgia for a Brighton that was. I'm happy inhabiting Brighton present, for now.
Upstairs at Three and Ten, 5, 10, 11, 18 May, times vary, £9.00 (£7.00), fringe pp45.
tw rating 2/5
[sla]

VISUAL ART

The Lansdowne Mews Artists
Anna Dumitriu
It is stupidly hot when we three intrepid Kemptonians venture forth to find Lansdowne Mews in Hove. We can't find it despite asking many passers-by, including a traffic warden. But we don't give up and eventually discover it off Farm Road and enter a run-down cobbled yard. Canvases line the gangway to upper floor studios; rusting railings, flaking paint off wooden doors and general dilapidation give the space a sense of credibility and integrity. The artists are welcoming and happy to talk about their work - inspiration ranges from aboriginal art to Russia to transience and nature. Out in the glare of the sun Michael Bishop sits gently strumming next to an artificial deer. Upstairs Anthony Walker talks with passion of his inspiration from Nordic mythology. Another artist below starts to sing.  I'm entranced, and want to be an artist or have the money to buy the art. Go see for yourself and glimpse authentic Bohemian living.
Lansdowne Mews Studios, 3, 4, 10, 11, 17, 18, 24, 25 May, 11:00 am – 6:00 pm, free, fringe pp62.
tw rating 4/5
[sla]

Reviewed in the ThreeWeeks eDaily tomorrow...
The Idiot Colony, The Treason Show, Bacchic, Pet Sounds V Sgt Pepper, My Brother's Keeper, Suitcase Circus, The Cows Come Home. Some of these reviews will appear first in tomorrow's Argus.

ThreeWeeks Reviewers Guide...
Sarah Agnew [sla], Steve Bromley [sb], Kate Charles [kc], Seth Ewin [se], Sean Farrance-White [sfw], Joel Gunter [jg], Jess Hookway [jh], Jessica Nero [jn], Laura Oliver [lo], Clearhos Papanicolaou [cp], Anna Pearce [ap], Richard Tatnall [rt].

ThreeWeeks is the flagship media at the Edinburgh and Brighton Festivals. Its mission is to provide as comprehensive coverage as is humanly possible of both these festivals, in particular reviewing those shows not getting media coverage elsewhere.

We launched ThreeWeeks in Edinburgh in 1996 because at that time the Edinburgh Festival was growingly hugely each year, but at the same time media coverage was, if anything, decreasing. That meant that many strands at the Festival - and especially the new, alternative and grassroots performers and companies which, as far as we could see, were what made the Edinburgh Festival so exciting in the first place - were not getting the coverage they deserved. From year one ThreeWeeks aimed to cover as many aspects of the Festival as possible, from the big names at the big venues through to the real grass roots shows not covered elsewhere. Over a decade later we continue to operate to that ethos, getting even closer to achieving it by reviewing over 1500 shows each Edinburgh Festival - nearly all of them - and hundreds more than our closest competitors.

Since 2006 we have applied the same ethos in our coverage of the Brighton Festival. This year we will have over 25 student reviewers seeing shows. You can read their reviews via this eDaily, our website and through a daily column in The Argus. We also offer a bucket load of previews and interviews on and with some of our favourite shows and performers, on our website, and via our free ThreeWeeks Guide to the Brighton Festival, available all over Brighton from 6 May.

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