DANNY ROBINS' EVENTS GUIDE: 24TH FEBRUARY 2011

Martin Creed at Cafe Oto

Martin Creed, the conceptual artist who won the Turner Prize for his light-bulb turning on and off has formed a band. Following in the footsteps of Keanu Reeves, Russell Crowe and Chris Waddle and Glenn Hoddle, having mastered one art form, he decided it's time to give music a go. Although, by the sounds of it, still with a rather conceptual approach - don't go expecting power ballads.

He's playing to announce the release of his single Thinking/Not Thinking and there'll also be a screening of his work 'Sick Film' beforehand.

Whilst seeing how Martin's merging the worlds of conceptual art and rock should be interesting, the real reason I'm mentioning this gig is the venue - Cafe Oto in Dalston in East London. Dalston is London's new frontier - where 'the scene' has moved on to after tired old Shoreditch and Cafe Oto is it's coolest venue, but in an actually cool way instead of being pretentious and try-hard. In fact, it keeps getting mentioned by magazines and newspapers as one of the coolest venues in the UK and even the world, let alone London.

Simon Munnery on Tour

Another man who could perhaps be described as a conceptual artist and has often been hailed as an under-rated genius is the comedian Simon Munnery. Simon is less well-known than his friends and contemporaries Stewart Lee and Richard Herring but came out of the same scene and has collaborated with them on various projects.

You may remember him as his character Alan Parker: Urban Warrior, or from his BBC 2 series Attention Scum, based on his Cluub Zarathustra Edinburgh shows, and you may have heard him on one of his, now pretty regular, Radio 4 appearances.

Anyway, he's definitely one of the most eccentric, original and innovative voices on the comedy circuit. He recently undertook an International Tour of Bedford but he's expanded his horizons and is now doing a tour of the whole UK called 'Simon Munnery: Self-Employed'. He's been going since the end of January and there are dates until early May. Get on his website to find out where he's playing near you

Frankenstein

It's the theatre event of the year, surely? Oscar winner Danny Boyle, director of Slumdog Millionaire, 127 Hours, Trainspotting and loads of other great movies, returns to the theatre to direct a new adaptation of Frankenstein.

Not only that but it features film star Jonny Lee Miller (still perhaps best known for Trainspotting and being a former Mr Angelina Jolie, but did you know he was up for the role of Bond when Daniel Craig got it?) and Benedict Cumberbatch, recently brilliant as the BBC's Sherlock.

And, if that wasn't enough of a hook to draw you in, it also has the added interest of the two actors part-swapping. So, one night Jonny is the Monster and Benedict is Victor Frankenstein and the next night, it's the other way round.

And.... if all that fails to whet your appetite, the Monster is naked for the first ten minutes, so depending on which night you go, you get to see either Jonny or Benedict completely starkers, should that be your thing.

If you live miles from London, you might be interested to know that Frankenstein will be screened in cinemas across the county as part of the National Theatre Live season. You can see Benedict as the Monster and Jonny as Frankenstein on 17th March and Jonny as the Monster and Benedict as Frankenstein and on 24th March.

You can see a full list of places - there are loads of options across England, Scotland, Wales, the Channel Islands and internationally too. The non-UK dates vary I believe.

And finally....

Don't forget it's the Oscars on Sunday, so look out for any places have late night Oscar-viewing parties near you. Or have one yourself!

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