After the success of the first Meet Brixton event in December, we’ve organised a second with the Brixton Bugle team on 18 January at the Dogstar. It’s a meet up/tweet up for the people of Brixton to come together to have a beer and share their love of the place where they live, work or simply admire. Very laid back – and everyone is welcome! Come for 7.30pm. More details here.
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It’s OxJam Brixton today. The festival is taking over four venues – The Windmill, Dog Star, Plan B and Upstairs at The Ritzy – with up to 30 acts including drum ‘n’ bass DJs Logistics, the Work It! DJ team and the BAC Beatbox Academy with performance poet MC Angel.
They aim to raise £6000 for Oxfam with the money from the tickets, costing £10 each for a day pass. Here’s what you can see for a tenner:
PLAN B (6pm-Midnight)
Nu:tone B2B Logistics ft. SP:MC
Ayah Marar
Drop/ Dead
Somethink Sounds
DJ Strago
THE DOGSTAR (3pm – Midnight)
Work It! DJs
The Stow
Wara
The Great Malarkey
Electrixcity
Vibeadeliks
Jack Leon Colton
Hejira
Colomboloco
BAC Beatbox Academy ft. Deanna Rogers and Paul Cree
THE WINDMILL (3pm-11pm)
Kay Suzuki
Beaty Heart
Lo-Fi
Spectre Spector
A Sweet Niche
Soccer 96
Stinger
Little Big Noise
Zoe Konez
Mercy Alexander
UPSTAIRS AT THE RITZY (7pm-11pm)
Russell Swallow & The Wolf
I Am A Pilot
Jon Nickoll
Grace Banks
We Are Goose
Tim Lacy
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Two teams of comics will battle through a series of improvising games tomorrow at 8pm at the Dogstar. Here, Corinne Furness from Write by Numbers theatre company, reviews the last Battle Acts! show – a taster for what might come tomorrow
“Give me a place two people might meet” Christopher Bailey, the compere of tonight’s BattleActs! demands.
“A cloakroom” someone shouts. “A morgue” someone else in the darkness of the upstairs room at the Dogstar offers.
“A cloakroom in a morgue” Bailey declares and so, once we’ve given them the opening and closing lines of the scene for good measure (“You didn’t call me” and “I think he’s alive” if you were wondering) the two teams set about improvising this scenario, only with a few more added complications because this is supposed to be a battle after all. It’s ridiculous and grotesque and, most of all, funny. Very funny.
BattleActs! takes two improv teams, plunges them into a set of games, mixes in a whole raft of audience suggestions and oddities and challenges each to come up with quickest, the cleverest or the funniest response (or ideally all three) in order to win points for their team. At the end of the night the winning team is showered with respect, applause and the love of the audience (possibly).
If the scoring is somewhat arbitrary, subject to the whims of both the audience and its misanthropic compere, then the rules of the games – and the eccentricity of the audience’s suggestions – aren’t. This is where the real challenge of BattleActs! lies; it’s the difficulty that compels.
Thus we get a “Greek-Gothic-Epic” about an Alchemist seeing a swan for the first time, a job interview for a Sociopath which features a scene stealing turn from a leek (with a leak) whilst, as punishment for “being a smartass”, one performer is forced to recite Hamlet’s “To be or not to be” speech from memory and without using the letter ‘e’ (which, to the audience’s obvious delight, he almost manages). It’s not just about the words though; the physicality of the performances stand up to the verbal dexterity on display. Over the course of the evening we get human plasters, elaborately gruesome deaths involving mimed chainsaws and spurting blood and a precarious trip across a rainbow (and the heads of the audience).
It’s almost inevitable in such a format that not everything quite hits the mark and some games (and indeed audience suggestions) work better than others. Yet the pace and the sheer invention of the performers mean that the energy never drops for too long. If you’re looking for something gloriously unexpected and laugh-out-loud entertaining then the Dogstar on the third Thursday of every month is where you should head. Just make sure you’ve got a better suggestion to offer than “spatula” when you’re asked to name a kitchen implement.
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It’s Brixton OxJam tonight. See here for the full line-up. Highlights are: The Illlersapiens at the DogStar at 10pm, folk and blues at the Ritzy Upstairs, and Plantain DJ set at the Rest is Noise followed by Yaaba Funk at 11pm.
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OxJam Brixton announced the first names in their line-up for the Brixton Takeover on 23 October this week. They are:
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Brixton Blog interviews Jakob Fodio Todd, regional manager for Brixton OxJam, about this year’s music festival on 23 October
What is OxJam?
OxJam is a month-long music festival across Britain and we’re organising one in and around Brixton. The money raised goes to Oxfam and they spend it on three different elements of their work – campaigning, development work and emergency response.
What’s going to be happening in October?
We’ve got as many local musicians and DJs as possible – people like Yaaba Funk for example. People are very receptive to the idea of playing at OxJam if they’re around and available, so we’re going to have some really good events. There are going to be lots of different DJs and it’ll be taking place at all the major Brixton venues – The Windmill, Plan B, Rest is Noise, Dogstar and Upstairs at the Ritzy.
What events have you got planned in the lead-up to OxJam?
We’ve already had a few – a Frock Swap, where people came to the Dogstar to swap clothes, and a Jumble Sale in the Dogstar. They’ve been quite stressful to organise! But there’s always been a really good atmosphere and a nice flow of people have attended. On 9 October, we’re going to do a takeover of Windrush Square with music and stalls from local businesses.
How much are you hoping to raise?
We raised £4,000 last year, so we’re hoping for a bit more this year. About £300,000 is expected to be raised across the country.
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Upcoming Events:
Oxjam Brixton Windrush Square All-dayer, 9 October – promoting local Brixton organisations, Oxjam festival and music and dance entertainment
Oxjam Brixton Takeover 2010, 23 October – @ Plan B(electro/dance), Rest Is Noise(afrobeat/hi-life), Upstairs at the Ritzy(jazz/blues/soul), Dogstar (hip hop/reggae) and the Windmill (indie/rock/ska) – tickets £8 (http://brixtonoxjam.com)
More info:
FB: Oxjam Brixton Takeover 2010
Twitter: http://twitter.com/oxjambrixton
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