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	Marlborough Theatre (venue website) Cabaret 25-27 May, 7:15pm-8:15pm
Suitable for age 15+ only.  Warning: Contains strong language.  2-for-1 tickets for Friends of the Fringe members.

Amiable mind-reader Doug Segal certainly influenced people at last year’s Fringe – selling out his debut run, and scoring a clutch of wide-eyed reviews from some thoroughly bamboozled new fans.  Segal’s style of mental magic invites comparison to Derren Brown, but he’s lost the goatee beard and portentous self-importance; instead, expect chipper patter, and a warming dose of happy-go-lucky charm.

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	Komedia (venue website) Music 13 May, 7:30pm-9:30pm
2-for-1 tickets for Friends of the Fringe members.

Singer and showman “Movin’ Melvin” Brown is well on his way to being a Fringe institution; named the best international act back in 2005, he’s returned repeatedly and he’s still going strong.  In this year’s show, the timeless performer combines storytelling, songs and dance, to tell an energetic history of soul music – from its origins in African-American slavery, right through to the glory days of Motown.

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	Upstairs at Three and Ten (venue website) Comedy 11-13 May, 10:00pm-10:50pm
Suitable for age 15+ only.  Warning: Contains strong language.

Here’s a two-handed sketch group with a welcome twist: they’re just a little bit older than the typical fresh-faced hopefuls, and there’s a matching maturity to their material.  Teakshow’s comedy is gently twisted, too, with a trademark dark surrealism which elegantly balances their ingenious concepts and some very funny lines.

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	The Nightingale (venue website) Theatre 4-10 May, 8:30pm-9:30pm

That over-used phrase, “high-concept”, feels irresistibly appropriate for this play.  Each night, a different actor is handed a letter; within it is a script they’ve never seen.  With no props, no director, and no rehearsal, they launch into the tale of a sinister animal experiment – layered with chilling allegories for the cruelties of humankind.

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	Arch 260, Palace Pier (venue website) Tours 1, 3, 8, 10, 15, 17, 22, 24 May, 6:30pm-7:30pm; 5, 12, 19, 26 May, 9:30am-10:30am, 11:00am-12:00pm

You’ll need to move quickly if you want to book this one: among the most remarkable attractions on the whole South Coast, it always sells out early for its Fringe-season run.  It’s near-unique, it’s strangely magnificent, and it’s educational, too.  And yes – it really is a walk through a sewer.

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	Varndean School (venue website) Theatre 20, 27 May, 12:00pm-1:00pm, 1:30pm-2:30pm, 3:00pm-4:00pm, 4:30pm-5:30pm, 6:00pm-7:00pm
Suitable for age 18+ only.

It was one of our most unexpected discoveries at last year’s Fringe: intimate, intense, and occasionally profound.  So we’re excited about the return of This Time Tomorrow, which sets a series of two-handed theatrical vignettes in the front seats of four ordinary cars.  They’re everyday, nondescript vehicles, and they don’t even go for a drive… yet through pitch-perfect acting and compelling plot, this mundane setting comes to feel as thrilling as any abandoned mansion or historic tower.

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	Upstairs at Three and Ten (venue website) Comedy 19-20 May, 5:00pm-6:00pm
Suitable for age 15+ only.  Warning: Contains strong language.  World Premiere.

Four-man comedy sketch troupes are a dime a dozen at Fringe time… but there’s something almost priceless about the Beta Males.  It’s not just that their material’s funny and zippy; what sets them apart is their ability to conjure crazily twisted, oddly credible worlds, and to spin their antics together in a sparkling narrative strand.

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	Komedia Studio (venue website) Cabaret 7 May, 7:00pm-8:00pm; 17 May, 7:10pm-8:00pm
Suitable for age 15+ only.  Warning: Contains flashing lights.  Warning: Contains strong language.

There’s nothing like cheering for the underdog – and, as juggler-cum-raconteur Mat Ricardo is quick to admit, his particular art-form is one of the most undervalued of all.  So at last year’s Edinburgh Fringe, we were thrilled to see Three Balls and a New Suit pick up a prestigious Herald Angel award, complete with a glowing 5-star review from the eponymous Scottish paper.

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	The Warren (venue website) Theatre 15 May, 8:00pm-9:00pm; 16 May, 6:00pm-7:00pm, 8:00pm-9:00pm
Family-friendly. Suitable for all ages.

It’s a simple, sad story, but it’s joyfully told.  So said FringeGuru’s Carmel Doohan, reviewing Translunar Paradise on its Edinburgh run last year.  As an ageing man struggles to confront his life-partner’s death, he escapes to a personal paradise of cherished memories – where his departed wife, in one final act of love, teaches him how to let go.

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