What’s on this week
Comedy night
The Comedy Network starts again at the Corn Exchange tomorrow (Friday) Get ready to laugh out loud with an evening of great comedy as Avalon presents The Comedy Network. why not grab a drink and sit back and relax in the company of some of the best up-and-coming comedians on the circuit. Avalon has an unrivalled reputation for finding new comedy talent and has many household names on their books, including Chris Addison, Rob Delaney, Jenny Eclair, Alex Horne, Chris Ramsey, Rosie Ramsey and Phil Wang. Whether you are looking for a great night out with friends or a fun way to celebrate a special occasion, start your weekend in style at The Comedy Network. https://cornexchangenew.com/
Tomorrow’s Line Up:
Phil Ellis: award-winning comedian who has entertained audiences of all ages with his amalgamation of off-beat observational material and physical comedy. Most recently, he was nominated for the prestigious Sky Best Comedy Show at the 2023 Edinburgh Comedy Awards and won The Malcolm Hardee Award for Comic Originality for Phil Ellis’s Excellent Comedy Show. The show was ranked in the top 20 best-reviewed shows of the Edinburgh Fringe Festival 2023. He starred and co-wrote three series of his own BBC Radio 4 sitcom Phil Ellis is Trying, co-starring Johnny Vegas, Lolly Adefope, Amy Gledhill, Alexei Sayle, Sindhu Vee, Jack Dee, Lee Mack, Mark Lamarr and Sean Lock. The series was nominated for a BBC Audio Award in 2019. Phil’s TV appearances include The Russell Howard Hour (Sky), Roast Battle (Comedy Central) There She Goes (BBC Two), Drunk History: UK (Comedy Central), as well as writing and performing credits on BBC Three’s The Tapeface Tapes and co-writing 3 comedy shorts for Dave.
Sara Barron: one of the fastest-rising comedians of her generation. Since her 2018 debut at the Edinburgh Fringe, she’s starred in shows including Live at the Apollo (BBC), Would I Lie to You? (BBC) and Frankie Boyle’s New World Order (BBC). A powerhouse live act, Sara has taken 3 critically acclaimed stand-up hours, For Worse (2018), Enemies Closer (2019), and Hard Feelings (2022) to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe and had multiple runs in London’s Soho Theatre. Her shows have received rave reviews and she was nominated for Best Newcomer at the Edinburgh Comedy Awards.
Dee Allum: an award-winning stand-up comedian and writer who started her comedy career performing sketches with the Cambridge Footlights and wrote the prestigious Footlights Pantomime in 2018. Dee has also written and performed a 45-minute solo stand-up show, and has performed on the UK Comedy circuit, at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and at Latitude Festival. Dee has been nominated for Best Newcomer at the Chortle Awards, placed as runner-up in the Leicester Square Theatre New Comedian of the Year Award 2021, won the 2Northdown New Act Competition 2021 and was a finalist in the 2022 BBC New Comedy Award competition. Dee is planning on making her Edinburgh fringe Debut this year and has recently filmed for ITV’s The Stand Up Sketch Show.
Alex Farrow
Former teacher Alex Farrow‘s philosophy-themed comedy shows regularly sell out at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. He has recently been described as 'An intelligent new star with a skill for strong joke writing' (British Comedy Guide Top Picks). He is the host of the multi-award-winning Jericho Comedy and Stand-up Philosophy London. Featured in The Times as part of A Bloke Called Dave’s Best Jokes of the Fringe. As heard on BBC Radio 4 Extra.
Bandaoke
APOLLO Big Band’s jazz@stockcross tomorrow night (Friday) takes a new turn with Bandaoke, featuring five new singers. Intruigued? It all kicks off at Sutton Hall at 8pm. Tea and coffee available but bring your own wine and nibbles. Apollo Big Band swings with the big band sound with originals as well as more contemporary arrangements of modern favourite from the Beatles and Dua Lipa Go to https://apollobigband.co.uk/ for tickets.
Rebus in Oxford
The mercurial Edinburgh detective John Rebus is back in a thrilling story exclusively on stage at Oxford Playhouse this week. Rebus: A Game Called Malice, a new play by Sir Ian Rankin and Simon Reade, runs to Saturday, starring Gray O’Brien, Abigail Thaw and Billy Hartman. A splendid dinner party in an Edinburgh mansion concludes with a murder mystery game created by the hostess. A murder needs to be solved. But the guests have secrets of their own, threatened by the very game they are playing. And among them is Inspector John Rebus. True crime is his calling. Is he playing an alternative game, one to which only he knows the rules? There are suspects, clues and danger with every twist and turn - and a shocking discovery will send this game called ‘Malice’ hurtling towards a gasp-inducing conclusion.
Sir Ian Rankin, Britain’s No.1 crime writer, is the multimillion-copy award-winning bestseller of over thirty novels worldwide and creator of John Rebus. His books have been translated into 36 languages and have been adapted for radio, the stage, and the screen. His Rebus novels have dominated the detective fiction market with the recent BBC television series ensuring the detective’s legendary status. https://www.oxfordplayhouse.com/
Open mic
Tomorrow night (Friday) is open mic night at ACE Space, St Nicholas’ Road, Newbury. Unplugged, is let loose the first Friday of every month (except August) hosted by actor and musician Adam Kotz, showcasing music, poetry and comedy and the occasional uncategorisable act. All styles, all ages, all levels of experience receive a warm welcome from our audience. If you love what you do, they probably will too. Acts register on the door at 7pm and each gets a minimum of two songs or equivalent. There is a PA system for vocals and ambient micing of acoustic instruments, and DI’s for guitars if required. There is a house Yamaha keyboard available to use. The doors and bar are open from 7pm and acts take to the stage around 7.30pm. Curfew is 11pm but they try and fit in all who want to play. Tickets £5, pay on the door. Performers free.
THE Blackheart Orchestra
THE Blackheart Orchestra, officially the smallest orchestra in the world, will be performing in St James Church, Leckhampstead, tomorrow (Friday,7.30pm), supported by Olga Dikajee, a fabulous Russian artist whose music combines weavings of folk, neo-baroque, neoclassical and progressive rock. The Blackheart Orchestra are multi-award winning, multi-instrumentalists Chrissy Mostyn and Rick Plkington playing up to 13 instruments in their unique live show. They have been described as a modern day Pink Floyd with influences from as far afield as Kate Bush, Portishead and Cocteau Twins to modern composers Steve Reich and Philip Glass. They currently sit on six best albums of the year lists in the UK. Tickets £18. There is free parking, a bar and amenities. Book at https://stjamespcc.com/events/
Jazz@PJc
Lee Gibson will be the guest at Pangbourne Jazz Club, at Rosewood Hall, Whitchurch Road on Sunday, 7.30pm, backed by the Pangbourne Jazz Club rhythm section: Jim Pollard (piano), Terry Hutchins (guitar), Rob Levy (double bass) and Brian Greene (drums). ‘SHE is, without doubt, the best jazz singer this country has produced in the last 40 years,’ says Digby Fairweather, one of the leading figures on the British jazz scene. Lee has featured in more than 1,000 broadcasts on BBC Radio including ‘live’ broadcasts with the BBC Big Band and the BBC Concert Orchestra on ‘Friday Night is Music Night’. She has appeared at The Barbican, The Purcell Room, The Queen Elizabeth Hall, The Fairfields Hall, Ronnie Scotts, seven seasons at Pizza on the Park, the 606 Club, The Spice of Life and at all the major jazz venues throughout the UK and Europe. In addition to being one of the UK’s premier jazz performers, her talent is recognised internationally. As well as working with her own trio and quartet, Lee is a highly respected and accomplished big band singer. Only £12.50 entry – pay on the door or book online www.pangbournejazzclub.com
Newbury Jazz 2
And more jazz with the newly-formed Newbury Jazz at Arlington Arts on Tuesday: Aitzi Cofre Real and Scottie Thompson: Shades of Song, built upon a long-standing musical relationship and is a culmination of re-imagined jazz standards, songs and wordless compositions. Inspired by the musical explorations of Norma Winstone & John Taylor, the duo share a passion for the Great American Songbook but also venture into other genres such as folk and contemporary Latin American music. Together they blend these influences seamlessly, creating a distinctive and original sound that reflects their personalities and musical backgrounds. Aitzi Cofre Real is one of the most gifted singers of her generation and is already establishing herself in the UK and beyond. Constantly exploring the possibilities as an improvising vocalist, Aitzi embraces wordless singing. Her influences are broad and her unique talent is a joyous culmination of her Latin American roots as well as her love of singers such as Shirley Horn and Irene Kral. Scottie Thompson is a pianist and composer from Portsmouth. He performs regularly in a variety of styles at major venues and festivals across the UK, and is a recent graduate of the Royal Academy of Music. He has also won several composition awards, with some of his arrangements being performed by world-class ensembles throughout Europe.
Exhibition: Money Talks
Money Talks: Art, Society & Power, running at the Ashmolean Oxford until January, delves into the complex, tense and often humorous relationship between art, money and society featuring more than 100 objects from across the globe, from coins and banknotes to artworks by Andy Warhol, Guerilla Girls, Grayson Perry and Banksy, to the new phenomenon of crypto currency and NFTs. The exhibition explores our complicated feelings about money - from disgust to desire – and reveal the art hiding in notes and coins that we rarely consider. The exhibition offers an insight into the painstaking process and marvellous creativity involved in the production of money across the globe and throughout history. Sculptors, engravers and calligraphers, graphic designers, painters and photographers have made impressions on everything from ancient coins and ingots to modern bank notes. Book your visit at https://www.ashmolean.org/ Open 10am-5pm daily.
