Brighton's best...
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Screamers...
review Little did I know when I woke up, hung-over as usual on a Sunday morning, that before the day was out I would have laughed until it hurt, heckled a dying headline act and done the hokey-cokey to a hip-hop beat. The reason for doing all three was my visit to Screamers - a pink comedy night at the Komedia.On the last Sunday of every month Screamers offers a range of top class acts from the comedy and cabaret circuits. As a regular visitor to Screamers (one of my favourite nights out in Brighton) it was with great excitement that I agreed to do a review for REALBrighton. So armed with a notepad, I set out to see what the evening had in store. Oh bugger, forgotten my notepad. The evening got off to a flying start with the fabulous compere, Ida Barr warming up the packed cabaret bar. It was like Revenge with tables up there. For those of you who've never had the pleasure: Ida Barr is an ageing once-famous music hall star who, due to a spot of financial embarrassment, has had to dig out her old costume and take to the boards to supplement her pension. She's bang up to date with her unique fusion of rap and r'n'b in a music hall style! Ida drops some rhymes about the topics that matter - her home help, Gaviscon, dado rails and the injuries she sustained doing the Hockey Cokey last Diwali in her sheltered accommodation in Hackney. There's also an abundance of showbiz tales from the glory days of Variety in what Ida likes to call The Angina Monologues. Anyone yet to witness Ida (played by the brilliantly talented Chris Green of Tina C fame) has a treat in store. With the audience in the palm of her hand and nicely warmed up it was time for the first act. The first act was... Oh bugger, I knew I should have gone back for that notepad. someone whose name I forget. Not the most original routine I've seen but still made me chuckle. That old "I'm an American and here's a few things that you Brits do that just crack me up" routine. Described as a "sexy female Tommy Cooper minus the fez" the second act had the audience again roaring with laughter. Combining comedy with magic might sound a bit too close to Paul Daniels for liking but Mandy's quick fire jokes and acid wit left little comparison. After a little more of Ida (hence the hokey-cokey to a hip-hop beat) it was time for the main act of the evening. Gary Le Strange won Best New Act at the Perriers this year, so it was with great anticipation that we waited for the act billed as "the boy with one foot firmly in the fashion nightmare that was the Eighties". A new romantics tribute act could be very funny. Unfortunately this wasn't. Funny, that is. The poorly adapted songs interspersed by fairly disastrous, unfunny and quite frankly dull material was quickly dismissed by the audience. Slowly but surely the noise level started to rise as table by table began to chat amongst themselves. Not taking the hint to call it a day meant several parties of people left during the act (something I've never seen before in all my visits to Screamers). The applause at the end I feel was only due to the sight of Ida reemerging, as the remaining audience wished the evening could end on a high. Luckily for us it did, and Ida had us back within seconds, commenting on the future of comedy. I hope that Gary Le Strange hasn't put anyone off Screamers. My advice is to keep Sunday 29th February free for the next one starring the gorgeous Julia Morris and the lovely Chambers and Nettleton. I know I will, and maybe next time I'll remember my notebook. Wilma x about Komedia
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