Orkney-based singer songwriter Jo Philby has a loyal following. Her fans love her folk, roots and country influenced songs that tell her stories of the sea and island life. Continue reading

Karen Wimhurst talks about her Shaftesbury Fringe choral events – the Palida Choir: Close Harmony in the Courtyard and Planet Shaftesbury: Raise Your Voice.

 

The Spoonfed’s perform their close vocal harmonies at Shaftesbury Arts Centre at 9 pm on Friday 5th July. Listen to one of their songs!
 

37 plays in 97 minutes! Plus an attempt on the world record for the fastest performance of ‘Hamlet’ (currently standing at 42 seconds).

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The Acoustic Café is a night of variety, music, spoken word and comedy all brought together in a friendly atmosphere with refreshments.

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Mary O’Connell and Patrick Healy are both young, both ethnically ambiguous, and both are barely there.

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Expect high-impact circus combined with hilarious audience interaction.

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Comedian Darius Davies is coming to Shaftesbury Fringe.

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Tenor Thomas Cameron’s voice has been described as having ‘velvet-like’ qualities.

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Does knowing where you’re from help figure out where you’re going?

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Charmian Hughes talks about her Shaftesbury Fringe comedy show, ‘What-not’.

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Derek, Pete, Vaughan, Will and Alan are The Songsmiths. This popular North Dorset group is back for Shaftesbury Fringe 2019.

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Susan Murray admits that she is morbidly fascinated by aeronautical disaster shows!

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Arriving at uni, middle-aged 18-year-old Jacob Hulland finds he is anything but a normal student.

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Giovanni L’Immigrato are a rambunctious bunch of fun-loving indie-folk musicians who truly know how to get down.

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Jacqueline Haigh gives a peek behind the velvet curtain on life as a receptionist in a Tantric massage parlour in her Shaftesbury Fringe show.

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Hunt and Murphy present their dark comedy sketch show at Shaftesbury Fringe.

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Guitarist and composer Jon Pickard will play a mix of genres including Spanish, classical, Bach, flamenco and his own original music on a 23- string harp-guitar during his Shaftesbury Fringe show in St Peter’s Church.

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Caroline Mabey’s husband quit his accounting job to train as a dog groomer. Caroline, a BBC Radio 4 News Quiz writer, explains how her other half’s ‘self-improvement’ has affected their family.

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Critically acclaimed ‘idiot’ Olaf Falafel will offer his audience ‘inventive jokes and stupid comedic left-fieldery, all held together with the flimsiest of narrative structures’ at Shaftesbury Fringe.

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Sam Fraser is the UK’s only stand up weather presenter.

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Join suburban housewife Honey and daughter Barbara for cheese and pineapple and fabulous retro fun with a twist!

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Karen Lockyear from Fabface Productions tells the Shaftesbury Fringe podcast about her play, ‘The Visitor’.

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Dorset-based, Polish-born singer-songwriter Magdelena Atkinson describes herself as a soulful singer, multi-instrumentalist and a dreamer. Continue reading

Paul F Taylor’s observational stand-up comedy has been described as ‘logic-defying’. He was nominated for the Best New Act at the Leicester Comedy Festival in 2017.

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The Manics are on at Shaftesbury Fringe. They are nothing to do with the South Wales rock band – but they are Welsh!

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Poet Trevor Carter – ‘The Bard Of Windmill Hill’ – is back for Shaftesbury Fringe 2019 with a performance that turns the frustrating aspects of modern life into laughter fodder.

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In a potentially extraordinary performance, Shaftesbury-based creative writer Richard Foreman is back to share more of his work at Shaftesbury Fringe.

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A singer-songwriter with strong Shaftesbury connections is getting ready to perform a chilled out set list of acoustic cover versions, singalong songs and his original compositions at Fringe.

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Geoff Robb is a superb acoustic guitar player. He was declared the winner of Brighton Fringe’s Live Music Award last year, in 2018. Continue reading

Three Dorset-based women writers are putting on a comedy sketch show at Shaftesbury Fringe.

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Comedian Steve Bugeja’s new show ‘Single Mum’ recounts the story of his early years. As an 8-year-old boy, Steve became confidant and coach to his mother.

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Robin Morgan has written for BBC Radio Four’s ‘The News Quiz’ and has also worked as the warm up act for Graham Norton’s chat show. We will ask Robin to spill the beans about the TV star, later in the podcast.

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The Andy Grant Trio will offer their audience incendiary guitar playing, bluesy vocals and funky grooves when they perform in Angola 76’s outside courtyard on the Saturday of Shaftesbury Fringe, 6th July. Continue reading

You will be able to enjoy three comedians for the price of one with the show Three Get Sloshed In Shaftesbury. And, appropriately, the gig is in the beautiful setting of the garden behind Shaftesbury Wines! Continue reading

Shaftesbury resident Marigold Rumble has not performed her poetry in public before.

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Former Shaftesbury School pupil Cally Beaton has been on the board of major TV companies in New York, Amsterdam and London. Legendary comedian Joan Rivers spotted her comedy talent and told her to pursue a stand-up career. A frequent QI panellist, Cally is appearing at Shaftesbury Fringe 2019 and she’s looking forward to catching up with former school friends and maybe her first love.

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A retired TV executive who made programmes about the arts is heading up a new blues band performing at Shaftesbury Fringe.

Alan Benson used to produce and direct TV’s ‘The South Bank Show’ and ‘Omnibus’.
Last autumn he formed the five-piece group, Kind of Blue.

He talks about the group’s influences and explains why people who don’t think that they like blues music should attend their Grosvenor Arms Hotel gig at 2.45pm on Sunday 7th July.
 
Listen to our interview with Alan here:
 

Have you ever watched Peppa Pig? Most parents will have seen the popular TV series – but the cartoon’s characters are the subject of their own Shaftesbury Fringe show this July. 

Comedian, actor and ‘Mock The Week’ writer Philip Simon is a dad himself but he promises that his show won’t be ‘just another comedian talking about parenthood’. Philip is offering a set based on a ‘nostalgic look at my time working on the Peppa Pig theatre tour’” He played Daddy Pig for two years from 2009 and he loved it.

During his 50-minute show, Philip will address modern parenting challenges, such as feminism and gender neutrality. Despite the show’s theme, the performance is only suitable for audiences aged 14+.

See Philip’s debut solo show, Who’s The Daddy Pig?, at The Mitre Inn, Shaftesbury at 4pm on Saturday 6th July before he heads off to the Edinburgh Fringe.

For more information visit www.philipsimon.co.uk.
 
Listen to our interview with Philip here:
 

When you think of the 1980s, what do you remember?

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