Brighton Fringe 2024: all the shows I saw this year
Fringe, Festival and Spiegeltent: everything I watched, reviewed... and appeared in.
I’m hosting a sketch show on Wednesday1 and then I’m heading off to Istanbul for a wedding the following afternoon, so my own personal Fringe has ended.
Below are all the shows I went to, either in a professional (ish) or personal (ish) capacity.
The ones with links I wrote about, the ones without, I did not, for a variety of reasons. Only shows that weren’t a WIP received a star rating.
Enjoy!
Brighton Belles2
Linda? ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Kate Louis-Elliot3
CSI: Crime Scene Improvisation ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Lil Wenker: Bangtail ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Impromptu Shakespeare ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Grubby Little Mitts5
Shelf: Teenage Men ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Brighton Fringe Comedy Showcase (hosted by Luke Rollason) ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Spiritualized ⭐️⭐️
Dawn Williams6
Chris East: My Brain Is Soup, Your Hands Are The Spoons ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Cabaret Impedimenta ⭐️⭐️⭐️
The Lovely Boys & Friends ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Kathy Maniura: Objectified ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Jen Ives: I’m Straight Now ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Clementine and Friends7
Su Mi: Banana Beard ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Slug In A Club - Vidya Divakaran ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Bits and Bobs
📻 We’re a little bit behind due to other commitments, but the Ace Doctor Who Podcast is working its way through the current season of episodes (we’re up to Boom so far). We’re on Apple Podcasts and wherever else you deign to get your podcasts.
🍉 Talking of podcasts, I listened to the Alexi Sayle one last night and he interviewed Paul Currie, the clown who was unfairly savaged by the press earlier this year and even accused of anti-semitism for chucking a heckler out of his show. It’s worth a listen to compare his side of the story to how it was reported by the BBC, the Guardian, and the rest.
The sitution in Gaza is a constant background noise of horror which should be at the foreground of all. I am usually good at compartmentalising, but not with this.
🚰 I’m currently reading The Mercenary River, by Nick Highham - a history of London’s water. It turns out public outrage at private ownership of something we all need to survive isn’t anything new. In fact, Hugh Myddleton’s New River Company instigated a financial and commercial revolution, as one of the first modern business corporations, and made a lot of contemporary commentators very cross in the process.
In the Victorian era, the private water companies became so incompetent and corrupt that they were eventually taken back into public hands - something impossible to imagine today.
That’s it for this week! When I get back from Turkey I’m going to set up a new, Brighton-specific blog and newsletter for art, culture, and maybe even a bit of local politics. If of interest, do subscribe when that becomes an actual thing!
Cheers,
J x
Come along! It’ll be good.
Review redacted, still available here for the completists.
Review redacted, still available here for the completists.
And me singing in the folk choir!
Didn’t review this one in the end as it was a WIP and I was tired, but it’s excellent and I hope they raise enough money for Edinburgh.
Didn’t review this one either as I was worried I might get another Actually It’s About Ethics In Comedy Journalism comment.
I went to this as a civilian. It’s nice seeing shows without having to review them! I should do more of that next year.